I LOVE APPLE PICKING. Probably because it’s more of a day trip activity unless you’re #blessed and live in the ‘burbs near farmland. Something about it – walking through orchards, snacking on straight off the tree apples, picking up a freshly baked pie and sipping on cider all just scream cozy fall.
This year some of my gal pals and I took the hour long drive south of San Jose to pick apples at the Live Earth Farm in Watsonville, CA. Fun fact: you can also pick other fruits there too – like strawberries and pumpkins. After picking apples, we headed to Gizdich Ranch for some fresh pie & coffee. But more on that in a bit.
When is apple picking season & when should you go?
Apple picking season is September through the end of October. However, each farm is different. Once you have some options of where to go picking, check their websites to see when their season starts and ends. Most update their Facebook pages quite often. While doing research, I found some places stopped apple picking mid-October, while others’ seasons went through early November. Ideally, you shouldn’t wait until the end of the season as the orchards will likely be picked over. When we went (last week of October) there were still plenty of apples luckily.
Where can you go apple picking in the Bay Area, CA?
This article had great information on spots all over the Bay Area to pick apples. If you’re in the South Bay however, I really loved Live Earth Farm & Gizdich Ranch (as I mentioned previously). I would 100% recommend them.
Tips for Apple Picking & Photography
1 ) Get there right when they open
Assuming you’re going on a weekend, you’re going to want to avoid the crowds for picking and photo purposes. When we went, we arrived right at 10 upon opening. We had the orchards to ourselves for a good 30 minutes before other families started arriving. By the time we left at 11 AM, it was also extremely hot. It depends on the weekend of course, but the earlier, the cooler it will be.
2 ) Walk to the farthest point
Similar to what I mentioned in my Davenport Day Trip guide about strawberry picking, you want to start picking farthest from the entrance. You’ll end up with better options and less people.
3 ) Bring props & a sturdy basket/ bag
Most u-pick spots don’t provide boxes or bags for gathering fruit. Make sure to bring something sturdy enough to hold your apples. We brought a re-usable bag with us (knowing that we only wanted ~15 apples), along with a cute little basket for taking photos with.
4 ) Pick your prop apples off the ground
We decided that we wanted to get our photos out of the way early before we picked our actual apples. To do that we needed to fill our basket along with some other prop apples. You’ll find that quite a few tend to fall off the trees, so we picked them off the ground and stuck them in the basket.
5 ) Wear shoes you don’t mind getting dirty
Lastly, you’ll be in the dirt, so make sure to wear shoes you don’t mind ruining or getting dirty!
