Traditions. Each season has them. Picking apples is one quintessential fall activity that never grows old. There is something magical and exhilarating about walking through an orchard and choosing your own apples, always picking more than you can carry. Your head is full of apple varieties—McIntosh, Cortland, Spartan, Honeycrisp, Baldwin, Macoun, Spencer, Empire, Winesap, Fortune, Jonathan—and what delicious things you can make with them.
Orchards filled with apple trees laden with fruit are a sight to behold. Each orchard offers its own unique experience, and many offer pick-your-own fruit opportunities. Go early, and you could find additional fruits like peaches, plums, nectarines, or late-season raspberries; go later, and pumpkins might be in the mix.
We hope you enjoy exploring these vibrant communities!
Autumn Hills Orchard
495 Chicopee Row, Groton, MA
For more than eighty years, Autumn Hills Orchard has occupied eighty-four acres atop a drumlin along Chicopee Row, with sweeping views of Massachusetts and southern New Hampshire. On clear days, you can see Wachusett, Monadnock, Watatic, Temple, and Crotched Mountains along with the Nissitissit Hills in the distance. After twenty-five years under Ann and Lyn Harris, the orchard was purchased by Groton residents Ed and Kim Herdiech in 2021. Today, they grow thirty varieties of apples, peaches, pears, plums, and grapes. Pick-your-own fruit is a highlight, while the farm’s retail space offers a fruit CSA, specialty foods, and seasonal products.
Bolton Orchards
25 Still River Road, Bolton, MA
Although Bolton Orchards is now known for its apples, cider, and cider donuts, the farm began as a 200-acre peach orchard. The Bolton Fruit Company’s young trees struggled during the Great Depression, and in 1935, the property was purchased by dairy farmer Jonathan Davis, who had developed an interest in fruit production. A farm stand was added in the 1940s and remains the centerpiece of the operation. Today, sixth-generation owners Sarah and Joel O’Toole oversee the orchards, which produce fruits and vegetables sold at the farm stand. Visitors will also find a deli, bakery, specialty foods, gifts, and Christmas trees.
Bolton Spring Farm
159 Main Street, Bolton, MA
Bolton Spring Farm encompasses 150 acres of farmland with roots stretching back to the early 1800s when the property operated as a dairy. In 1937, Howard Stephenson purchased the dairy and an adjoining farm and planted the land with apples and other fruit. Today, some of the orchard’s trees are more than a century old. The original Stephenson house remains on the property, as does the farm stand, now housed in a late 19th-century barn. The country store offers the farm’s own fruits, vegetables, and flowers, along with baked goods and seasonal items. Pick-your-own apples provide another way to experience this scenic farm.
Brookdale Fruit Farm
41 Broad Street, Hollis, NH
Established in 1847, Brookdale Fruit Farm has remained in family hands for more than 175 years. Edwin Hardy began the farm as a subsistence operation, raising apples, vegetables, cows, chickens, and hogs. Later generations operated a dairy before Harold Hardy planted orchards and began selling peaches, pears, cherries, strawberries, and vegetables. By the 1960s, Brookdale had shifted its focus to produce, and the family built the present roadside stand in 1975. The farm is now in its seventh generation of family management, and its land is protected through a conservation program. Brookdale received a Millennium Farm/Ranch Family Award in 2000.
Carlson Orchards
Carlson Orchards
115 Oak Hill Road, Harvard, MA
Founded in 1936 by Walter and Eleanor Carlson, Carlson Orchards has grown from a diversified farm raising chickens, cows, potatoes, and apples into a hundred-acre apple orchard. By the late 1960s, apples had become the farm’s specialty, and the Carlson family’s orchards eventually produced 30,000 bushels annually. Today, visitors can pick their own apples or browse the farm store for specialty gifts. Carlson is also known for its hard and soft ciders, which are produced in partnership with New England Apple Products. The Cider Barn Taproom offers the farm’s beverages alongside pizza and other pub fare.
Carver Hill Orchard
101 Brookside Avenue, Stow, MA
At the confluence of Elizabeth Brook and the Assabet River, Carver Hill Orchard has been farmed by the Lord-Fletcher family for 150 years. Chuck Lord’s great-grandfather established the orchard in the 1820s, and today, the farm remains in production under Chuck’s son, Matt Lord. Conservation efforts by the Stow Conservation Commission and Stow Conservation Trust helped preserve the property through a conservation restriction. The seasonal country store offers produce, cider, cheese, hormone-free meats and eggs, cider donuts, and ice cream. Visitors can also pick their own fruits and vegetables and find seasonal favorites such as pumpkins and Christmas trees.
Chip-In Farm
201 Hartwell Road, Bedford, MA
Chip-in Farm began in 1944 as a six-acre egg-delivery farm established by the Couvee family. It soon evolved into a self-service farm stand operating on the honor system. When egg sales declined in the late 20th century, the farm expanded its general store to include produce, bread, and other groceries; today, eggs are still a specialty. Third-generation family members Neil and Paul Couvee care for the hens while Sandy Couvee uses the farm’s goats, fields, and equipment for educational experiences. They also offer community events, including goat yoga. Chip-in remains Bedford’s only working farm with animals and a farm stand.
Cucurbit Farm
32 Parker Street, Acton, MA
Cucurbit Farm traces its roots to 1896 when the Christopherson family established a homestead on School Street in Acton. The property later passed to the Nelson family, who grew asparagus, carrots, beets, and spinach. Now in its fifth generation, the family farm encompasses fifteen acres in Acton and more than sixty acres leased in Concord. Its Parker Street farm stand is easily recognized by its flower-lined grounds and classic red barn. In addition to the farm’s own produce and flowers, the stand carries local meat and dairy, fresh fish, firewood, and more. The farm’s name reflects its specialty in cucurbits, including pumpkins and squash.
Derby Ridge Farm
438 Great Road, Stow, MA
For generations, Derby Ridge Farm has been associated with the Derby family, who has lived in Stow since the 1700s. John and Florence Derby purchased the farm in 1910, along with its 19th-century post-and-beam barn, which still houses the farm store. Their son, Jack, and his wife, Emily, expanded the property to seventy-five acres in 1947. In 1976, their daughter, Anne, and her husband, Ted Porcella, added the farm’s cider press. Today, Anne and Ted’s daughter, Linda, and her husband, Gregg Mikoski, carry on the tradition. The farm produces fruits, vegetables, and Christmas trees, while the store offers cider, honey, jams, and gifts.
Doe Orchards
327 Ayer Road, Harvard, MA
Doe Orchards began as an apple farm on sixty acres along Bowers Brook in Harvard. Originally known as Hawbuck Orchards, the property was established by O. C. Doe and his sons, Whit and Bill. After a brief change in ownership, the land returned to the Doe family in 1978 and was renamed Doe Orchards. Apples remain a favorite, but the farm has expanded to include berries, peaches, pumpkins, and Christmas trees. Visitors can pick their own apples or browse the farm stand for pumpkins, gourds, cider, and more. The property also offers plenty of whimsy, including historic tractors, whale-shaped rocks, and a covered bridge.
Drew Farm
31 Tadmuck Road, Westford, MA
Perched atop Providence Hill, Drew Farm spans thirty-two scenic acres of orchard and is especially popular during the fall. The McGlinchey family’s farm grows a wide selection of apples, including McIntosh, Cortland, Macoun, Empire, Golden Delicious, Gala, and EverCrisp. Visitors can pick their own apples and pumpkins—often with the added treat of fresh cider donuts on weekends. Drew Farm’s signature fall event is its annual Halloween pumpkin lighting, and occasional live music adds to the seasonal atmosphere. In spring and summer, the farm turns its attention to flowers, offering floral hangers and bedding plants.
Ferjulian’s Farm
7 Lewis Street, Hudson, MA
Ferjulian’s Farm has been a Hudson landmark for more than eighty years and remains the town’s only working farm. Armenian immigrant Manouel Ferjulian established the sixty-five-acre orchard in 1941, growing apples for local markets. His son, Manouel Vincent, expanded the business with a greenhouse and farm stand and added turkeys, fruits, vegetables, and flowers. Today, the farm is operated by the family’s third and fourth generations. Visitors can shop for apples, squash, corn, and other produce; browse the greenhouse; or visit the flower-cutting garden to create their own arrangements. The family’s continuing involvement makes Ferjulian’s a true multigenerational farm.
George Hill Orchards
582 George Hill Road, Lancaster, MA
The Siver family has farmed at George Hill Orchards since 1974 when Don and Frieda Siver purchased the property on George Hill Road in Lancaster. The family later passed the farm to their son, Don, and his wife, Annette, who expanded its offerings and established it as a destination for pick-your-own fruit, hayrides, and baked goods. Today, George Hill grows apples, blueberries, peaches, and pumpkins and hosts school tours and special events. Visitors can occasionally enjoy grilled specialties from the takeout window, while picnic tables and a gazebo provide inviting spots to relax and take in the surrounding orchard scenery.
Gove Farm
930 Mechanic Street, Leominster, MA
Gove Farm has been family run since the 1830s and is now in its seventh generation. Located just off Route 2, the eighty-acre farm overlooks Mount Wachusett and the Nashua River Valley. Lisa and Paul Gove have operated the farm since 1993 and plan to pass it to their son, John, who followed in his father’s footsteps by studying horticulture. Although the farm lost acreage when Route 2 and Interstate 190 were built, approximately fifty acres remain in cultivation. At the farm stand, visitors will find apples, vegetables, flowers, and seasonal corn—all grown on the farm itself.
Hollis Hills Farm
Hollis Hills Farm
340 Marshall Road, Fitchburg, MA
Hollis Hills Farm occupies the former Marshall Farm, a historic hundred-acre property overlooking Fitchburg and the surrounding hills toward Wachusett Mountain. The land includes the 1784 Marshall homestead and extensive apple orchards. After three generations of Marshall family ownership, the property was sold in 2002. Allison and Jim Lattanzi purchased it in 2014 with the goal of restoring its role as a center of community agriculture. They revived pick-your-own apples and established a sugar house that became the largest maple producer in eastern Massachusetts. Today, the farm stand offers fruits, flowers, eggs, and more, while the restaurant, bar, and seasonal live entertainment draw visitors to the hilltop.
Honey Pot Hill Orchards
18 Boon Road, Stow, MA
Honey Pot Hill Orchards is a 186-acre, fourth-generation family farm in Stow’s Assabet Valley. Founded in 1926 when Clifford Martin purchased seventy acres, the farm is now operated by his descendants Andrew and Chelcie Martin. Visitors can pick their own blueberries and apples or shop the farm store for fruits, vegetables, baked goods, and ice cream. The farm’s annual Blueberry Festival is a July highlight, while fall brings hayrides and hedge mazes. During the holiday season, the farm sells Christmas trees, wreaths, and kissing balls. Visitors will also encounter an assortment of animals, including miniature ponies, goats, rabbits, pigs, and chickens.
Idylwilde Farm
366 Central Street, Acton, MA
Idylwilde Farm began in 1898 when Italian immigrants Frank and Mary Napoli established a forty-acre farm in Lexington, growing vegetables, poultry, and eggs that they sold door-to-door by pushcart. Their son, Thomas, opened a farm stand in 1930 and officially named the business Idylwilde Farm. The third generation relocated the farm to Acton, where they added a Dutch barn and greenhouse in 1985. Today, the distinctive post-and-beam building is a local landmark—even without a sign. The farm stand offers produce, gourmet foods, baked goods, deli items, plants, home and garden goods, and firewood. Idylwilde’s own golden zucchini is a local favorite.
Kimball Fruit Farm
Kimball Fruit Farm
184 Hollis Street, Pepperell, MA
The land now known as Kimball Fruit Farm has been agricultural property since the 1700s. The farm took its name from the Kimball brothers—longtime owners of the orchard—before being purchased in the late 1960s by Harold Hills, who established a wholesale apple business. His son and daughter-in-law, Carl and Marie Hills, later placed the property under an agricultural preservation restriction and diversified its offerings with a farm stand and farmers’ market sales. In 2022, they sold the farm to their longtime mentees, David and Amanda Wadleigh. Today, Kimball offers produce, pick-your-own fruit, pumpkins, flowers, and seasonal harvest boxes.
Lanni Orchards
Lanni Orchards
294 Chase Road, Lunenburg, MA
A familiar sight along Route 13, Lanni Orchards is a 300-acre, multigenerational family farm offering produce, baked goods, gifts, and more throughout the year. Pasquale Lanni established the farm with his two sons after emigrating from Avellino, Italy. The family planted apples and vegetables and sold their harvest from a roadside stand as well as to local supermarkets. Today, the third and fourth generations continue the tradition. Apples remain a specialty, while corn, squash, berries, and pies are also popular. The farm offers a CSA and farmers’ market sales, and warmer months feature Taste of the Local events.
Lavoie’s Farm
172 Nartoff Road, Hollis, NH
Lavoie’s Farm has been a family operation since the Lavoie family moved from Quebec to Nartoff Road. What began with vegetables and chickens grown primarily for the family eventually expanded into a large-scale vegetable farm. At its height in the 1970s, the family cultivated more than 300 acres; today, the farm encompasses about 100 acres. Fourth-generation farmer Adrien Lavoie now leads the business with his parents, John and Ruth, and his wife, Nadine. The farm produces apples, berries, pumpkins, tomatoes, peppers, corn, squash, beans, and other crops. Visitors can shop at the original farmhouse farm stand or pick their own fruit and explore the corn maze.
Lull Farm
65 Broad Street, Hollis, NH
Lull Farm combines a working farm with a market offering fresh produce, flowers, pick-your-own crops, and prepared foods. Established in 1980 by Hollis native David Orde, the farm takes its name from Grace Lull, a former owner of the land. Orde’s appreciation for Jamaican culture has helped create an extended Jamaican family among Lull Farm’s employees, who contribute to everything from growing crops to preparing food. Today, the farm’s Hollis, Nashua, and Milford locations offer local produce, grass-fed and free-range meats, dairy products, eggs, cheeses, and baked goods. The Hollis location also presses its own cider on-site.
Meadowbrook Orchards
209 Chace Hill Road, Sterling, MA
Meadowbrook Orchards has occupied the hills above Wachusett Reservoir for five generations. John Chandler founded the farm in 1912 by combining five neighboring farms, then planted an orchard and started a dairy operation while the young fruit trees matured. After a devastating 1927 barn fire, the farm shifted its focus to fruit production. Later generations modernized the orchard and expanded its offerings. Today, the Chandler family operates a farm store, bakery, restaurant, CSA, farmers’ markets, and flower gardens. Meadowbrook produces more than 50,000 bushels of fruit annually, with visitors able to purchase apples, cider, and baked goods. A disc golf course offers another way to enjoy the hundred-acre property.
Nicewicz Family Farm
116 Sawyer Road, Bolton, MA
Founded in 1929 by Polish immigrants Julian and Catherine Nicewicz, Nicewicz Family Farm has long been known for its orchards and, more recently, its spectacular peonies. The third-generation farm is now operated by brothers David, Alan, Ken, and Tommy Nicewicz. Once primarily a wholesale operation, the farm expanded its retail presence in the 1990s with a farm stand and farmers’ market sales. Today, the family grows apples, peaches, pears, blueberries, corn, and other vegetables, along with more than one hundred varieties of peonies. Their summer flower fields also feature celosia, dahlias, strawflowers, sunflowers, and zinnias. Pick-your-own fruit and fall hayrides add to the seasonal offerings.
Sholan Farms
1125 Pleasant Street, Leominster, MA
Honoring the area’s Indigenous history, Sholan Farms takes its name from Sholan (also known as Nashawhonan), chief of the Nashaway tribe. The property includes a farmhouse dating to the 1730s and has been known by several names over the centuries. Once a dairy farm, the property shifted to apples and vegetables in the 1920s. When development threatened in the late 1990s, a grassroots preservation effort partnered with the City of Leominster to save the land. Today, about twenty acres are devoted to apples and forty acres to blueberries, raspberries, pumpkins, and gourds. Trails and wildlife habitat cover the remaining acreage.
Washburn’s Windy Hill Orchard
66 Mason Road, Greenville, NH
Surrounded by the colorful Wapack ridgeline, Washburn’s Windy Hill Orchard embraces all the pleasures of a New England autumn. Its seven-acre apple orchard offers pick-your-own McIntosh, Cortland, Macoun, and Red Delicious apples, while a large pumpkin patch, five-acre corn maze, and free hayrides provide plenty of additional fall entertainment. At the farm’s distinctive red barn and store, visitors can enjoy apple cider, cider donuts, soft-serve ice cream, and gifts. The festivities continue through Halloween, making Windy Hill a particularly appealing destination for families looking to combine apple picking with classic fall activities.
Westward Orchards
178 Massachusetts Avenue, Harvard, MA
Westward Orchards has been family owned and operated for four generations on 275 acres in Harvard’s fertile Nashoba Valley. The farm grows apples, peaches, pears, plums, quinces, blueberries, strawberries, and seasonal vegetables, with 125 acres permanently protected as agricultural land. Founded in 1919 by Ernst Hermann, the property began as a summer retreat before his son, Bill, transformed it into a working farm. A farm store opened in 1970 in a turn-of-the-century dairy barn. Today, siblings Stephanie Waite and Chris Green continue the family tradition with help from their parents and aunt. Pick-your-own fruit, pumpkins, a CSA, and beloved cider donuts are among the farm’s highlights.
All images courtesy of Freedom’s Way National Heritage Area.
*This article was made possible with the support of Freedom’s Way National Heritage Area.