There is something so relaxing and therapeutic about picking fruit from a tree. I remember a friend telling me that her daughter asked why the apples that they picked from an orchard in Michigan didn’t have the stickers on them. I thought this was so humorous. It made me realize how important it is to teach your kids where their food comes from, especially when you live in a big city like New York City. So, we took Jimmy apple picking.

If you live in New York City and you’re looking for the perfect place to go apple picking, I have the perfect spot for you – Prospect Hill Orchards in Milton, New York. It was recommended to us by a friend that lives in the city. She said it was a great spot, and she was so right. Here are some of the details about Prospect Hill Orchards and some of the reasons why we love it!

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The History of Prospect Hill Orchards

Prospect Hill Orchards has been a family run farm by the Clarke family for over 200 years. Nathaniel Clarke started the 55 acre farm in 1817, and today it is still ran by Clarke family members, the sixth and seventh generation. In the early years, the Clarkes grew strawberries, raspberries, and currants. Eventually cherries, peaches, pears, and apples became their primary focus. They started sending their produce by boat to be sold in New York City in 1830. By 1930, the farm mainly sold apples and became famous for their apple orchard. Today they still specialize in apples, but also grow pears in the fall, and cherries and peaches in the spring and summer.

Judy Clarke, one of the farmers at Prospect Hills Orchard.

Arriving to Prospect Hill Orchards

Prospect Hill Orchards is about an hour and half drive from Manhattan. We rented a car and headed north. It was a treat to get out of the city. We were greeted by the owners, Judy Clarke and her husband Steve Clarke. By the way that they greeted us, you would have thought that we were old friends who have known each other for years. They welcomed us with open arms, smiles, and even gave us hugs when we arrived. We couldn’t have received a warmer and friendlier welcome. Such a nice start to our day. And isn’t her sweatshirt the cutest? The perfect thing for an apple farmer to wear.

The Wagon Ride

After we arrived and chatted with Steve and Judy, we hopped into a wagon for a wagon ride. They provide transportation throughout the apple orchard. With 55 acres, it’s smart of them to provide a wagon for their guests, otherwise it would be too difficult to navigate. Not only was it a convenient way to get to the apples, but it was also a fun part of our day that we all enjoyed.

Apple Picking

There is something just so rewarding about picking fruit yourself from a tree. I love how you can pick it at the perfect ripeness, so different from grocery store produce that is always picked too early. These apples at Prospect Hill Orchards were so good. They were probably some of the best apples I’ve ever tasted. They grow so many different varieties including Honeycrisp, Fuji, Golden Delicious, Jonagold, and Pink Lady. Unfortunately they were out of Honeycrisp when we went (that’s what we get for going the last weekend that they were open), but we got all of the other delicious apple varieties. The Honeycrisp apples are so popular, because they are the best apple around in my opinion.

All of the apples at Prospect Hill Orchards were huge and so flavorful. The Fujis were so sweet, with a sugar crystallization in the middle near the core. I’ve never downed an apple so fast as when we were picking here. The funny thing was that Jimmy normally won’t eat apples. He likes applesauce and apple juice, but he will rarely eat apples, especially with the skin on it. But when we were apple picking, he started chowing down on an apple, skin and all, and ended up eating a good portion of it. In fact he wouldn’t let us take it away from him and said, “I guess I like apples now.” Funny how quick the tastes of a three year old can change. (By the way, Judy told us to try the early-Fuji to make sure they were still good and to compare with the normal and late-Fuji varieties.)

Does Prospect Hill Orchards Grow Organic Apples?

Prospect Hill Orchards isn’t 100% organic, but they are close to being organic, and getting more and more organic minded each year. “We never apply a spray unless there is a high enough pest problem to cause economic damage.” They are a low spray orchard, not a no spray orchard. However, in 2000, they made 5 of their 55 acres purely organic, planting apples that are highly disease resistant. Normally I always buy organic apples because I know apples are on the dirty dozen list, but when I am picking the apples myself locally, I think that low spray apples are sufficient. Sometimes buying local is just as good as buying organic. Both would be ideal, but we will take what we can get. At only $1.25 a pound, we were very happy!

Fall Family Activities

It’s hard to find an apple orchard that has a good balance of apple picking with tasty fruit, but also has some of the fun family focused fall activities. I find that a lot of orchards either specialize in one or the other but rarely do both well. At Prospect Hill Orchards you get the best of both worlds. They have so many acres of apples for great apple picking, but they also do some fun fall things for families with kids. As I understand, on specific weekends, they offer various fall activities. Here are some of the fall activities that were going on when we visited (many for no extra charge):

Build Your Own Scarecrow

They had bins full of different clothing items that a scarecrow might wear, a bucket of hay, plus everything else that you would need to build your own scarecrow. Jimmy and Nate designed one, a Jimmy sized scarecrow, and made it step-by-step with all the provided materials.

Gourd Craft

There was a huge bin full of different types of gourds. They had all the craft items – pom poms, googly eyes, feathers, etc, inspiring the kids to create their own gourd creature. We still have ours standing as sentinal outside our door.

Corn Maze

Since we went the last weekend that they were open for the fall, the corn maze was very much destroyed and not really looking like a corn maze anymore. I’m sure it was really nice towards the beginning of the season. Jimmy still had a fun time running through it and seeing all the corn.

Pumpkins

The one thing that I think Prospect Hill Orchards is missing is an actual pumpkin patch. They have a ton of pumpkins that were brought in from somewhere else, but they were just sitting on the ground. That’s not a pumpkin patch (where I come from). I wish they had an actual pumpkin patch where the pumpkins are still on the vine and the kids can pick them themselves to take home. Jimmy didn’t really know the difference and still had fun meandering though the picked pumpkins. Besides pumpkins, they also had a variety of squashes for purchase.

Apple Cider Press

Prospect Hill offer a demonstration to show you the old fashioned way to make apple cider. They even let the kids participate and offer little samples. You have to catch them when they are pressing a large batch of apples, otherwise the demonstration will only throw in one apple at a time, not making for very much juice to come out and doesn’t show how the machine works. If we would’ve caught a larger pressing, this would have been a highlight of the day.

The Store

If you’re looking for a place to buy delicious fall inspired baked goods and other treats, Prospect Hill Orchards has it. They sold hot apple cider donuts, apple turnovers, granola, and apple pie. They also had a variety of jams, jellies, apple butters, and honey. We got the triple berry jam, and it is excellent. And don’t forget to grab some apple cider. We got a half gallon and later I totally regretted not getting the full gallon. Yum!

Prospect Hill Orchards is a fun place to spend the day with your family and a great place for apple picking. I can’t wait to go back next fall. . . or hopefully even earlier for their summer produce. Have you been to Prospect Hill Orchards? Let me know in the comments below!