Although summer is over, it’s still a great time to get outside and do some fruit picking. Here are seven local farms that offer pick-your-own opportunities in September. Take a bite of this fun and follow up with an afternoon of pie baking. Enjoy!
Butler’s Orchard, Germantown, MD.
Tuesday through Sunday, pick black raspberries and blueberries starting at 8:30 a.m. Take a
hay-filled tractor ride around the farm or reserve a space to roast marshmallows with your friends. You can even come back in September and October for their Pumpkin Festival, which includes hayrides and cider. Visitors can also pick peas, strawberries, tart cherries, blackberries, red raspberries and apples within the summer and early fall months as well as choose Christmas trees in late November through December. The farm market has even more choices, including veggies and kitchen décor — not to mention a bakery. Day pass, $3; season pass, $25.
Burnside Farms, Nokesville, VA.
From mid-June through Labor Day, cut sunflowers or explore one of the nation’s only sunflower mazes. There are also gardens of gladiolus and clouds of cosmos to be cut and paired with those freshly cut sunflowers. Burnside Farm also has a bounce house, a two-story slide, a bubble station, cornhole games and more. Season pass, $15; flowers are priced by stem and run from 50 cents a stem for cosmos to $1.50 a stem for sunflowers.
Great Country Farms, Bluemont, VA.
On Tuesdays, pick blackberries and peaches through the month of August. The farm hosts the Big Potato Dig on Aug. 18-19 for all the spuds fans out there (and who isn’t a fan?). Apple picking starts in late August and goes through September, when you can head to the fields to pick grapes and then pumpkins. The farm market offers all of this produce as well as eggs, local honey and cider doughnuts. Children, $8; adults, $10.
Wegmeyer Farms, Hamilton, VA.
Wegmeyer Farms is known for its strawberries in the spring and its pumpkins in the fall. In the fall, go to its Wayside Farm playground for a corn maze, hay rides and even pig races on Saturdays and Sundays. Free.
Homestead Farm, Poolesville, MD.
Pick peaches, blueberries and blackberries seven days a week this summer. During other seasons, the farm grows apples, pumpkins and tart cherries. In its market, you can purchase pre-picked fruits and veggies, preservatives and local honey. $2 per person.
Hollin Farms, Delaplane, VA.
During the summer months, pick from a large variety of fruits and veggies, including peaches and plums, through August. The fall months offer apple and pumpkin picking as well as digging your own peanuts and potatoes. The farm also gives customers the option to purchase local Angus beef with the next slaughter date being Aug. 12. Free.
Marker-Millers Orchards Farm, Winchester, VA.
Monday through Saturday, pick your own peaches, red raspberries, blackberries, tomatoes and apples through August. In September and October, you can pick from 12 types of apples, pumpkins and winter squash. Besides the market, the Sweet Shop offers 12 kinds of handmade fudge, eight varieties of ice cream and fresh fruit slushes. When you are not picking your own fruits and veggies, you can explore the playground, take a wagon ride or try out the farm’s cow train activity. Free.
