As September arrives we start to think about apple picking and harvest festivals. It’s become a yearly tradition to go with Terra and make homemade applesauce. Living in NYC we are surrounded by plenty of farms to choose from. Since we mostly go upstate, I thought this year we’d try to check out some in Jersey as well. Being in Brooklyn it was much easier to access not having to drive through the city to get there.
Apple Picking Near NYC: Alstede Farms
Alstede Farms was recommended by a friend and also popped up throughout my search. It was only about an hour drive from us, so we decided to plan a day trip there. We went a bit early in apple season around mid-September. It seemed to be less busy around this time, as we’ve heard from others that it can get quite crowded on weekends.
Entry to the Farm
As you arrive at Alstede Farms there’s a large parking lot with attendants helping to navigate you to available spots. It was well organized and easy to manage. After parking we walked towards the farm, where we were greeted by a few farm animals before entering. This as a nice way to get the kids excited about going to the farm. We spent a bit of time petting the horse and donkey before heading on our way.
The market area with homemade ice cream and pumpkins
The area to purchase the tickets and apple boxes/bags were to the right after entering. Since we were ready for lunch we decided to check out the food area first. There’s a tent with various choices (hotdogs, burgers, fries, sandwiches, etc.) We also saw a homemade ice cream stand near the market with a lot of flavors to pick from. There’s also a farm market here with lots of fresh goodies and even some local wine. Of course there are also apple cider donuts, our personal fall favorite.
Apple Picking
After paying for entry, you can choose to either walk or take a tractor to the U-Pick farm. There are also wagons free to use if you choose to walk. We opted for the tractor for the experience and ease of reaching the various spots quickly. It comes every 10-15 minutes so we never waited long for one.
Since we were mostly interested in just apples we went to the orchards first. There were some types of apples that weren’t ripe yet, but a good amount available for us to pick from. Since we were there early in the season we found the trees were packed with apples and some even untouched. This farm isn’t organic so we saw some chemical residue on the apples, something to keep in mind if you decide to sample a few while picking.
Sunflower field next to the orchard
Close to the orchards was a sunflower field, available to pick from. After wandering through the field a bit we waited for the tractor to take us to our next stop.
Corn Maze
The next stop after the apples was the corn maze. Since Terra wasn’t really interested we decided to skip this, but it looked fun. There were a few snacks being sold outside of it in case you need a hunger boost.
Berries and Peaches
Our last stop on the tractor ride was the berries and peaches, located right next to each other. We were only interested in peaches as it was towards the end of berry season so passed up on them. The peach trees were really full and perfectly ripe. Since our box was nearly full we decided to head back.
Before you exit the U-Pick area you have to pay for what you picked. We filled a fairly large box of apples and peaches for around $35, so the price wasn’t too bad for what we got.
Terra trying out the large bubbles in the activities area of the farm
There was also hula hoops to try out
The clown from the puppet show playing tricks on Terra
Other Farm Activities
There’s a lot of other farm fun activities located around the entry area. There are giant bubbles that kids can make and some hula hoops at the end of the tractor ride. There’s also a puppet show at various times throughout the day. Terra’s favorite part was being able to see and feed the animals again. This was a nice way to end our day here.
The cows were so cute!
Overall we found Alstede Farms to be a pleasant fun-filled day. It was well organized and easy to navigate. You can really spend a whole day here, but we found 3-4 hours to be sufficient. It’s a great choice for apple picking near NYC, our favorite part of autumn!
What’s your favorite apple picking spot near NYC? We’d love more ideas!
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