Apple U-Pick Orchards in Northwest New Mexico in 2023, 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.
Rio Arriba County
- Purple Adobe Lavender Farm - ORGANIC, apples, flowers, pears, Other fruit or veg, and prepicked produce, gift shop, events at your location (call for info)
Hwy 84 Pr 1622 Gate 31 & 25, Abiquiu, NM 87510. Phone: 505-685-0082. Email: info@purpleadobelavenderfarm.com. Open: Starting July, Wednesday - Friday 9 - 4 closed Saturdays Sunday 9 - 4 . Directions: Located between mile marker 210 & 211. Click here for a map and directions. Payment: Cash, Check, Visa, MasterCard. . Lavender is harvested during the month of July; Fruit is harvested during the month of August, September, and October. 22 miles north west of Espanola. Take highway 84 toward Abiquiu. The farm is . Turn onto pr 1622 and drive down road to gate 31 or 25. We use natural practices, but are not yet certified Organic. Lavender u-pick. There are 15 varieties available to choose from. You can wander the fields alone or with a someone to guide you in how to pick lavender. Fresh and very fragrant. - Romero's Orchard - apples, peaches, apricots, pears
County Road 1105 Driveway No 65, Embudo, NM 87531. Phone: 505-579-4378. Email: romerosorchd@cybermesa.com. Open: 7 days a week. Click here for a map and directions. . romerosorchd@cybermesa. Apple varieties: Red Delicious, Golden Delicious, Winesap, Rome, Red Rome, Stayman Winesap. Peach varieties: alberta, hale, halberta. Pear varieties: Bartlett, Lincoln, Sugar. If coming from Espanola, NM turn right on State Hwy 75 (Dixon turnoff) and make an immediate right after the Anthony K. Baca Bridge onto County Road 1105. Travel down 1105 until it ends and turn left into driveway #65. There is a white sign with black lettering announcing "Apples For Sale". If coming from Taos, NM turn left on to State Hwy 75 (Dixon Turnoff) and make an immediate right after the Anthony K. Baca Bridge on to County Road 1105. Travel down 1105 until it ends and turn left into driveway #65. There is a white sign with black lettering announcing "Apples For Sale". Labor Day Weekend is the start of the picking season and it runs through the first weekend of November and coincides with the Dixon Studio Tour.
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