Apple U-Pick Orchards in the St. Louis area of Missouri in 2024, by county
Below are the U-Pick orchards and farms for apples that we know of in this area. Not all areas of any state, nor even every state, have apples orchards that are open to the public. If you know of any others, please tell us using the add a farm form!
Remember to always check with the farm's own website or Facebook page before you go - or call or email them if they don't have a website or Facebook page. Conditions at the farms and crops can change literally overnight, so if you want to avoid a wasted trip out there - check with the farm directly before you go! If I cannot reach them, I DON'T GO!
PLEASE report closed farms, broken links and incorrect info using the "Report Corrections" form below.
St. Charles County
- Hermans Farm Orchard - apples, blackberries, nectarines, peaches, pumpkins, tomatoes, Fresh eggs, restrooms, school tours
3663 N. Highway 94, St. Charles, MO 63301. Phone: 636-925-9969. Email: hermansfarmorchard@gmail.com. Open: Daily, from 9 am to 5 pm, until October 31st. Directions: . Click here for a map and directions. Payment: Cash, Debit cards, Visa, MasterCard, Discover.
Hermans Farm Orchard Facebook page. . . U-PICK SUMMER: JULY to AUG Tomatoes, Peaches, Blackberries, and more. FALL: SEPT 1 to Tomatoes, Apples OCT 1 to Pumpkins. 5 Varieties of tomatoes; homegrown Heirloom, Canning Quantity, Grafted Heirloom Tomatoes from both local and European varieties. (UPDATED: July 07, 2018, JBS)
Warren County
- Hog Farm - apples, beans, beets, blackberries, broccoli, carrots, corn (sweet), horseradish, herbs or spices, peppers, summer squash, winter squash, strawberries, Honey from hives on the farm, Cider mill fresh apple cider made on the premises, U-pick and already picked
15690 Ranch Road, Wright City, MO 63390. Phone: 636-456-0001. Open: Tuesday through Sunday from 8 am to 5 pm, year round. Click here for a map and directions. Payment: Cash, only. . (ADDED: September 17, 2015) - Thierbach Orchards & Berry Farm - Apples, blackberries, blueberries, peaches, pumpkins, strawberries, tart cherries, gooseberries, child-sized haybale maze, and prepicked produce, gift shop, tractor-pulled hay rides, petting zoo
85 Town Branch Road, Marthasville, MO 63357. Phone: 636-433-2299. Open: Please call for berry picking dates and times. Directions: Our berry patch is located at 85 Town Branch Road, just off Hwy 47 at Marthasville across from the Ag Center. Our store, Thierbach's Market, is four miles north of Marthasville on Hwy 47. The apple orchard is on the same farm as the market. . Click here for a map and directions. Payment: Our market accepts cash, check, credit, and debit; our berry patch accepts cash and check only. . Apple Junction phone number 636-433-2757. Click here for a map to our farm. Crops are usually available in May, June, July, August, September, October. Our market is open daily July-October. Monday through Saturday 9-6, 11-6 on Sundays. Strawberries ripen in mid-May, Blueberries in early-June, Blackberries are usually ripe around Father's Day. Peaches ripen in July, and you can pick apples weekends in September and early October. Please call for specific ripening and picking details. Our garden produce is available at the market. Located near the beautiful Katy Trail in Marthasville, we are just over an hour west of St. Louis. We also grow garden vegetables and pumpkins. If you are looking for a great outdoor activity, we offer many opportunities for you to pick your own fruit. Our berry patch is set up exclusively as Pick Your Own, you can pick your own peaches in July through early August, and kids of all ages can pick their own apples on weekends in September and early October. A visitor writes: "We had a wonderful time. We parked at the market and then we were taken, by hay ride, over to the picking site (orchard). They run every five minutes, so you knew you were not stranded. The trees are still small enough to pick some great fruit while standing on the ground (a six-foot orchard ladder was provided to pick from the taller trees). Our 14 month old son even got to pick an apple with very little help. The market has a covered picnic area so you can pick fruit in the morning, have lunch on site (B.Y.O.L.-Bring Your Own Lunch) and still get home at a reasonable hour. This facility is definitely family friendly, except for a lack of a modern bathroom (Johnny on the Spot outside market). Apple picking the way I remember, worth a trip with or without the kids."
Apple Picking Tips, Recipes and Information
Apples ripen from the outside of the tree towards the center, so the apples out the outside of the tree will ripen first. Once they are picked, they stop ripening. Picking apples directly from a tree is easy. Roll the apple upwards off the branch and give a little twist; don't pull straight away from the tree. If two apples are joined together at the top, both will come away at the same time. Don't shake the trees or branches. If the apple you are trying to pick drops, (or others on the tree) go ahead and pick it up. They're perfectly fine! But do wash them before you eat them! More info: How to tell when apples are ripe
- Once picked, don't throw the apples into the baskets, place them in gently, or they will bruise and go bad more quickly.
- Don't wash apples until just before using to prevent spoilage.
- For an explanation of why apple slices turn brown and how to stop it, see this page!
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Keep apples cool after picking to increase shelf life. A cool basement is ideal, but the fruit/vegetable drawer of a refrigerator will work, too. A refrigerator is fine for small
quantities of apples. Boxed apples need to be kept in a cool, dark spot
where they won't freeze. Freezing ruptures all of an apple's cells, turning
it into one large bruise overnight. The usual solution is to store apples in
a root cellar. But root cellars often have potatoes in them: apples and
potatoes should never be stored in the same room because, as they age,
potatoes release an otherwise ethylene gas, which makes apples spoil faster.
If you can keep the gas away from your apples, they will keep just fine.
Just don't store them right next to potatoes.
Prevent contact between apples stored for the winter by wrapping them individually in sheets of newspaper. The easiest way to do this is to unfold a section of newspaper all the way and tear it into quarters. Then stack the wrapped apples . See more here: How to store apples at home - Apples don't improve or "ripen" after being picked - this is an urban myth - see this page for the truth - with references!
Which apple variety is best?
There are tens of thousands of varieties of apples, developed over centuries. They vary in sugar, acoidity, flavors, storing, crispness and many other attributes. See our guides to apple varieties:
- Summary table of many apple varieties and their characteristics
- Detailed descriptions of each apple variety with detailed characteristics
- Apple varieties, sorted by the order in which they typically ripe
- Apple varieties that don't turn brown when they are cut
- Why are some apples brown or spotted inside when you first cut them open?
Canning apples - fully illustrated, with step-by-step instructions
- How to make applesauce
- How to make apple butter
- How to make apple jelly
- How to make apple pie filling (canned)
- How to can apples
- Home canned apple juice
Recipes, illustrated with step by step instructions
- Apple pie recipe and directions and illustrated! I can say, with, ahem, no bias at all, that this is the best apple pie recipe in the world! (Alright, I did have an apple strudel in Vienna once at that place listed in Fodors that was REALLY good, but that wasn't a pie, was it? And since this was the recipe my grandmother used, it must be great!)
- How to make applesauce for a single meal (not canning it) with NO special equipment
- Apple cobbler
- Apple crunch - best of all! Moist, low sugar and using oats!
- Apple crisp - ever-popular, low sugar and using oats!
- Apple, blackberry, cherry, and/or peach cobbler
- Apple-blackberry, crumble - a English favorite (or favourite)
Using fresh apples and miscellaneous
- How to stop cut apples from browning
- Apple festivals - find one near you!
- Apple facts
- Apple seeds and cyanide