Zestar! Picked out
Crisp, juicy, a little tart. The first apple of the year and the one that doesn't keep — eat it within two weeks.
Rows 1–4 · Aug 15 – Sep 5
Pick your own
Six varieties, 36 rows, ripened on the tree
We grow 14,000 dwarf trees on 60 acres, which means fruit at eye level and no ladders. Here is what is ripe, where to find it and what a bag costs.
How picking works
Pay for a bag at the gate
Half peck $18, peck $30, half bushel $52. On weekdays the bag is your admission; on weekends it's on top of your entry ticket.
Check the board
The chalkboard at the orchard gate lists today's open rows. Our pickers walk the rows at 7 am and move the ropes before we open.
Pick from the open rows
Twist and lift — don't pull. A ripe apple comes off with the stem. Taste one from each row if you like; we expect it.
Weigh out at the barn
Over-filled bags are charged by the pound at $2.60/lb. No outside containers, no apples in strollers, no exceptions — it keeps the price fair for everyone.
Picking now
2026 variety guide
Dates are when each variety typically reaches our target of 14° Brix and 15 lb pressure. A hot August moves everything up about a week; a cool one pushes it back. Follow the banner at the top of the site, not the calendar.
| Variety | Where | Ripe from | Typical window | Status | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Zestar! | Rows 1–4 | Aug 15 | Aug 15 – Sep 5 | Picked out | Eating fresh, applesauce |
| SweeTango | Rows 5–9 | Aug 29 | Aug 29 – Sep 20 | Picked out | Eating fresh, lunchboxes |
| Honeycrisp | Rows 10–21 | Sep 19 | Sep 19 – Oct 20 | Picking now | Eating fresh, salads, gifts |
| Haralson | Rows 22–28 | Oct 3 | Oct 3 – Oct 25 | Picking now | Pies, crisps, long storage |
| Regent | Rows 29–32 | Oct 20 | Oct 20 – Oct 25 | Opens Tue Oct 20 | Eating fresh, storage through February |
| Fireside | Rows 33–36 | Oct 22 | Oct 22 – Oct 25 | Opens Thu Oct 22 | Eating fresh, cider blends, storage |
SweeTango Picked out
A Honeycrisp × Zestar! cross from the U of M. Loud crunch, lots of juice, a hint of spice.
Rows 5–9 · Aug 29 – Sep 20
Honeycrisp Picking now
The apple everyone drives down for. Twelve rows of it. Explosively crisp and sweet; keeps 3–4 months in the fridge.
Rows 10–21 · Sep 19 – Oct 20
Haralson Picking now
The Minnesota pie apple since 1922. Firm and tart, holds its shape when baked, and the trees are the oldest on the farm.
Rows 22–28 · Oct 3 – Oct 25
Regent Opens Tue Oct 20
A late, dark-red keeper with a balanced sweet-tart flavor that improves after a month in storage.
Rows 29–32 · Oct 20 – Oct 25
Fireside Opens Thu Oct 22
Big, striped, sweet and mild — the apple our grandparents grew. Picked last because it needs the frost to sweeten.
Rows 33–36 · Oct 22 – Oct 25
Bag prices
Priced by the bag, not by the pound
Every bag is the same price no matter which variety you fill it with. Honeycrisp costs us more to grow than Haralson, but we would rather you pick what you like than count rows.
- Half-peck bagAbout 6 lb · 12–14 apples$18
- Peck bagAbout 12 lb · 24–28 apples · the most popular size$30
- Half-bushel bagAbout 24 lb · enough for pies, sauce and a month of lunches$52
- Pre-picked, in the barnSame varieties, picked that morning, by the peck$34
- Windfalls (seconds)Ground apples for sauce and cider, 20 lb box, while they last$12
Last Call Weekend (Oct 24–25): all u-pick bags are half price. The fruit is still good; we just need the trees empty before the first hard frost.
Picking tips from Gene
- Pick from the outside of the tree and the top of the row first — that fruit gets the most sun and is reddest.
- Cup the apple, twist a quarter turn, lift. If it fights you, it isn't ready.
- Set apples in the bag, don't drop them. A bruise today is a rotten apple next week.
- Honeycrisp bruises easily and keeps best cold. Haralson will sit on the counter for a month.
Orchard rules
- No climbing trees or shaking branches. Picking poles are free at the gate.
- Stay out of roped rows. They are either picked out or not ripe.
- Kids are welcome everywhere, with an adult within sight.
- Dogs stay home. Service animals are welcome.
- Eat as many as you like while you pick. Just don't take the half-eaten ones home in the bag.
How we grow
What you are walking through
The orchard sits on a south-facing slope above the Cannon River valley, which drains cold air on frost nights and gives us about ten days more growing season than the flats toward Dundas. Gene and Marit Lindqvist planted the first 400 Haralson and Fireside trees in 1978 on standard rootstock; those rows (22–28 and 33–36) are the tall ones at the back, and we still pick them with ladders ourselves, not with visitors.
Everything planted since 2004 is on dwarf Bud 9 rootstock, trellised, eight feet apart in rows twelve feet wide. That is why most of the fruit is between knee and shoulder height, and why a wagon fits down every row. We net the Honeycrisp block against hail in July and pull the nets the week before it opens.
We farm with integrated pest management: pheromone traps, weather-model spray timing, and ground cover mowed rather than sprayed. Eight hives from Prairie Creek Apiary in Faribault pollinate the orchard every May; their honey is in the Bakery Barn. We are not certified organic and don't claim to be — in Minnesota's humidity that would cost us most of the crop — but we are glad to walk you through exactly what we spray and when. Just ask for Tomas.