Where To Go Apple Picking In Missouri

MISSOURI — October is special. Leaves show off before they drop, taking on brilliant red, orange and yellow hues. Pumpkins become relevant again. Young kids become their favorite superheroes and villains for Halloween. But it’s also that rare time of year when apples are ripe for the picking, and when people decide they’d rather pick their own than buy them from the grocery store.

If you’re one of those people, consider heading to Schweizer Orchards in St. Joseph, about an hour north of Kansas City (or four and a half west of St. Louis). The orchard was recently named the best in Missouri by Reader’s Digest. Here’s what the the family magazine had to say:

Bite into a River Bend apple grown on the bluffs above the Missouri River and you’ll likely forget any other types of apples even exist. With four generations of farming under their belt (and orchards dating back to the early 1900s), Schweizer Orchards has perfected the apple-growing process. Don’t leave without a jar of handmade jam or relish from the country store.

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If that doesn’t satisfy your taste buds — or, let’s be honest, the drive is too cumbersome — you might head to one of the following orchards, compiled by OrangePippin.com, a resource website founded by apple enthusiasts and dedicated to the fruit.

Alldredge Orchards
Phone: (816) 330-3448
10455 Northwest Highway North, Platte City, MO

Arrowhead Orchard and Bakery
Phone: (417) 743-2842
710 Holder Road, Clever, MO

Bader Farms
Phone: (573) 246-2528
Hwy WW, Campbell, MO

Baxter's Orchard
Phone: (816) 862-8532
25822 S Kauffman Rd, Garden City, MO

Bear Creek Farms
Phone: (417) 334-5613
Email: bearcreekfarmzzz@gmail
932 Keithley Rd., Walnut Shade, MO

Beckner Orchards
Phone: (816) 934-8149
RR 1, Wellington, MO

Binders Hilltop Apple and Berry Farm
Phone: (573) 721-1415
Email: applesandalpacas@ktis.net
24688 Audrain Rd. 820, Mexico, MO

Black Horse Orchard and Farm
Phone: (636) 488-3180
Highway E and FF, Jonesburg, MO

Blue Heron Orchard
Phone: (573) 655-4291
Email: blueheronorchard@centurytel.net
32974 220th St., Canton, MO

Brozovich Orchard
Phone: (660) 777-3445
RR 1 Box 113, Clifton Hill, MO

C and L Orchards
Phone: (573) 624-3771
15050 Apple Blossom Lane, Dexter, MO

Cates Orchard
Phone: (573) 624-3949
13423 State Hwy WW, Dudley, MO

Centennial Farms
Phone: (314) 228-4338
199 Jackson St, Augusta, MO

Cider Keg Orchards
Phone: (816) 566-2106
1633 NW 50 Hwy, Holden, MO

Diebold Orchards
Phone: (573) 545-3571
I-55 at Hwy 77, Benton, MO

Dobsons Happy Apple Orchard
Phone: (816) 650-9339
4013 North Johnson Rd, Sibley, MO

Gordon's Orchard
Phone: (417) 646-8889
Hwy 13, Vista, MO

Head Orchards
Phone: (417) 463-2734
16006 Highway 14, Marionville, MO

Historic Weston Orchard & Vineyard
Phone: (402) 209-4117
18545 CO RD H, Weston, MO

Huffstutter Orchards
Phone: (660) 848-2320
2621 State Rout P, New Franklin, MO

Hunt Orchard
Phone: (816) 475-4103
14621 State Hwy K, Amazonia, MO

Jackson Country Orchard
Phone: (573) 341-3887
10299 County Rd 5140, Rolla, MO

James O'Neal Orchard
Phone: (573) 246-2017
Hwy WW, Campbell, MO

Jeanies Orchard and Berry Patch
Phone: (660) 534-7371
RR 1 Box 1, Bosworth, MO

Kerr Orchard
Phone: (660) 259-2800
Hwy 24, Lexington, MO

Kithcart's Orchard
Phone: (417) 395-2214
1413 County Line Rd., Rich Hill, MO

Lehman Family Orchard, LLC
Phone: (660) 485-6297
1206 Highway A, Spickard, MO

Lindemann Orchard
Phone: (417) 258-2856
S. Hwy 60, Marionville, MO

Millards Apple Creek Farm and Orchard
Phone: (660) 584-3650
621 Murphy Ford Road, Centertown, MO

Mother Earth Market LLC
Phone: (660) 493-2137
28133 Hwy 24, Waverly, MO

Murphy Orchards
Phone: (417) 258-2353
255 S Hwy 60, Marionville, MO

Ozark Mountain Orchards
Phone: (417) 443-3343
4564 S Campbell, Springfield, MO

Pate Orchard and Produce
Phone: (417) 276-3297
510 North 4th Street, Stockton, MO

Peters Orchards & Market
Phone: (660) 493-2368
32615 Hwy 65, Waverly, MO

Purple Gate Farm
Phone: (417) 443-0306
Email: purple.gate.farm@gmail.com
416 Poplar Drive, Highlandville, MO

Rasa Orchard
Phone: (660) 259-4228
19510 Garr Rd, Lexington, MO

Red Bird Hill Apple Orchard
Phone: (573) 642-8706
1670 Welsh Lane, Fulton, MO

Ridge Orchard
Phone: (573) 732-5783
Hwy 3, Bourbon, MO

Schreiman Orchards
Phone: (660) 493-2477
29032 Highway 24, Waverly, MO

Schweitzer Orchards
Phone: (816) 232-3999
S Hwy 169 & FF, St. Joseph, MO

Sibley Orchards
Phone: (816) 650-5535
4121 California Ave, Sibley, MO

Steffens Orchard
Phone: (573) 824-5514
269 Pine Hill Lane, Frohna, MO

Stephenson's Orchard
Phone: (816) 373-4990
16501 E 40th St S, Independence, MO

Sunshine Valley Farm
Phone: (417) 753-2698
Email: jan@SunshineValleyFarm.com
8111 East AD Highway, Rogersville, MO

Table Rock Orchard
Phone: (417) 272-3699
83 State Hwy HH, Reeds Spring, MO

Templeton Orchard
Phone: (660) 259-3838
Hwy 24 & F Rd, Dover, MO

Theirbach Orchards & Berry Farm
Phone: (636) 433-2299 or (636) 433-2757
18427 State Hwy 47, Marthasville, MO

Vaughn Orchard
Phone: (816) 386-2900
23200 State Route 273, Weston, MO

West Orchards
Phone: (660) 651-7582
25875 Jewell Ave, Macon, MO

Weston Red Barn Farm
Phone: 816-FUN-KIDS
16300 Wilkerson Road, Weston, MO

Wiles Orchard
Phone: (417) 258-2309
Hwy 60 & 265, Marionville, MO

Apple picking has become as American as, well, apple pie. In America, the activity dates to the Jamestown colony in the early 1600s. Settlers brought over seeds from Europe and began harvesting them. According to the History Channel, apples use to be much more bitter than the sweet ones you taste today. Back then, they were mostly used to make apple cider, a popular drink in England.

There are 2,500 varieties of apples grown in the U.S., but only the crabapple is actually native to North America. Most apples are still picked by hand in the fall, and they’re pretty healthy, too. Apples have a great source of fiber and contain no fat, sodium or cholesterol.

If you’re looking to score some apples, here are some tips from pickyourown.org on how to find the best.

• Apples will stop ripening once they’re picked, and the apples outside the tree will ripen first.
• Apples on the sunny side, usually the southern side, ripen first.
• Look at the color. “Depending on the variety, apples may be yellow, red, green or combinations of these colors at harvest,” the site said. “When the green has almost completely given way to yellow, a yellow variety is mature. With red blush or striped apples, the area where there is no red color usually changes from green to yellowish at maturity. Some of the newer red strains are challenging, because they are red all over long before they are sweet and mature. In these, the change in the color of the flesh goes from greenish to white when they are ripe. Red Delicious spur-types apples are odd in that the greenish tint may take months in storage to disappear, but they are fine to eat before that!”
• Don’t pull the apple straight away from the tree. Insead, roll the fruit upward off the branch and twist it a little bit.
• Don’t shake the trees or branches.
• If apples touch the ground, that’s fine. Just wash them before you eat them.

Patch national reporter Dan Hampton contributed to this report.

Photo by Rick Uldricks/Patch