Field trips, birthdays and the Loft
We host about 180 school groups, 90 birthday parties and 30 private events a year. Here's how each one works, what it costs, and the form to book it. A real person — Anna — answers every request within two business days.
From blossom to apple, in two hours
Tuesday to Friday, arrival at 10:00 or 12:30, from the day after Labor Day through October 23. Built for pre-K through 6th grade and aligned loosely to the Minnesota science standards on plant life cycles, which is to say the kids learn something and don't notice.
What's included — $9 per student
- A staff host who meets your buses in Lot B and stays with you the whole visit
- 25-minute orchard talk: how a flower becomes an apple, why bees matter, what grafting is (with a real graft to look at)
- A hayride to the pumpkin field and back
- Each student picks three apples into their own bag to take home
- The short-loop maze and the goat yard
- A cider donut and a cup of cider at the picnic grove
- One free chaperone per five students; additional adults $9
- Reserved picnic tables for your lunch — bring your own
Minimum 20 students, maximum 120 per time slot. Add a pie pumpkin per student for $3. Title I schools: ask about our sponsored visits — we cover 25 classrooms a year through the Northfield Area Foundation.
Booking details
- SeasonSep 8 – Oct 23
- DaysTue – Fri
- Arrival10:00 or 12:30
- LengthAbout 2 hours
- Lead time2 weeks minimum
- Deposit$100, applied to invoice
- Rain planReschedule free, or run it — we have a barn
Teachers: we email a one-page pre-visit sheet with the vocabulary we'll use, a map, and the allergen list. Bring it up on the bus and the orchard talk goes twice as well.
Birthday party — $195
- Admission for up to 12 kids and 6 adults (extra guests at the day's gate rate)
- The covered pavilion by the goat yard, reserved for 2 hours, with tables, benches and a cooler of cider
- A dozen donuts and a Honeycrisp for every child
- Hayride and maze included, any day of the week
- One goat-feed cup per child; a staff member brings a goat to the fence for photos
Add-ons: pie pumpkin per child $3 · second dozen donuts $12 · sheet of cider caramels $20 · caramel-apple decorating station $45.
Two hours in the pavilion, no cleanup
Bring your own cake — we have a fridge for it — and we handle everything else. Party slots are 10–12, 1–3 and 3:30–5:30 on weekends, and any two-hour window on weekdays. The pavilion is next to the goat yard and across the lawn from the hay-bale hill, so the kids run between the three and the adults sit down.
Weekend parties bypass timed entry; your guests check in by name at the gate. We'll send you a guest-list link after you book.
The Loft: weddings, reunions and the company party
The upper floor of the 1911 barn was rebuilt in 2019 as a 3,200-square-foot event space: original beams, new floor, climate control, a catering kitchen, restrooms, and a deck looking down the Honeycrisp rows. It seats 150 at round tables or 200 for a standing reception, with the yard and string lights for another 150 outside.
When it's available
May through July and November through mid-December for weddings and private parties, any day. During our season (Aug 15 – Oct 25) the Loft is available for weekday events only — company outings, retirement parties, team days — because weekends belong to the orchard.
- Saturday weddingMay–Jul, Nov · 10 am to midnight · includes rehearsal hour Friday$4,500
- Friday or Sunday wedding$3,200
- Weekday private eventUp to 8 hours$1,800
- Company outing in seasonTue–Fri · Loft + admission, hayride and maze for everyone · per person, 40 minimum$38
Rental includes tables, chairs, a staffed bar area (you bring a licensed caterer; we have a list of six), parking attendants, and Tomas on the tractor for photos if you want him. Not included: alcohol, catering, linens, the DJ. Noise ends at 11; we have neighbors and cows.
Included with regular admission
Aug 15–16 · Opening weekend
First Zestar!, first hayrides, and the maze opens. Free cider slush with every bag of apples.
Sep 19–20 · Honeycrisp Weekend
The Honeycrisp block opens with all twelve rows. Live bluegrass 1–4, caramel-apple station, a tasting table of all six varieties.
Oct 3–4 · Harvest Fest
Giant pumpkin weigh-off Saturday at noon, antique tractor row, kettle corn, a cider-pressing demo every hour, and the Northfield High jazz band Sunday.
Oct 24–25 · Last Call
Half-price u-pick bags, pumpkins two-for-one after 3 pm, and the last donuts until next August.
Group policies
- A $100 deposit holds your date; it comes off the final invoice. The balance is due the day of the visit, by card or school PO.
- Final headcount is due 48 hours ahead. We bill the final count or 90% of your booked count, whichever is higher.
- Weather: reschedule free up to 7 am on the day. If you'd rather run it in the rain, the talk and the donuts move into the barn and the hayride goes out regardless.
- One chaperone per five students is free; we need at least that many for the maze.
- Buses park free in Lot B. Drivers eat free.
Seasonal jobs
We hire about 40 people each fall: gate and bag-station staff, hayride drivers (tractor experience required), bakery and fryer crew, field-trip hosts, maze bridge monitors and parking attendants. Weekend-only shifts are the norm; students from Carleton and St. Olaf make up half the crew. $16–$19/hr plus all the seconds you can eat. Email [email protected] with "Jobs" in the subject line from July 1.