We love Rose Hill Farm! This is our second year visiting for apple picking & it's always a pleasant experience. We came last year early September & it was pretty empty & peaceful, with maybe 4 or so apple varieties available for picking that I can remember. This year we came mid to late October & it was packed & busy. They have a cidery towards the back which seemed to be popping. On the bright side, at this time of year there were 8 different varieties of apples we could pick.
The price for a half bushel bag didn't change from last year, which was nice. It remained $32 for as much apples you could pack into a half bushel bag. For smaller amounts, they charge $2.90/ lb, whichever is a better price for how many apples you picked. Their social media is pretty quick with answering questions & providing a guide of what apples are available, as well as flavor descriptions on their site.
On weekends they'll usually have other vendors do pop up on site like Kado flowers (a Japanese owned flower farm) or fresh made to order apple cider donuts from the local Mighty Donuts shop as well as food trucks selling ice cream and oysters & other savory items.
The apple varieties that were available when we went late October were Mutsu/Crispin, Fuji, Jonagold, Shizuka, Winecrisp, Keepsake, Cameo, and Empire. At this point of time there were only some late Fuji and Cameos left. For the other apple varieties, a lot of the front of the orchard had been picked so you had to go pretty deep into the back to pick the apples. There are these long apple pickers by the storefront for reaching the very top apples.
The older lady staff with slightly curly hair in particular has been very kind & helpful both years. She said we could taste test the apples as we went to figure out the flavor profiles of the apples & see what we like. She was also very generous in letting us push the limits of our half bushel bag & really squeeze in a ton of apples.
I have no experience with the cidery half of Rose Hill Farm but the apple picking portion is always a delight. It's a wonderful place to spend a cozy fall afternoon. The apple cider donuts from Mighty Donuts were moist & flavorful & crunchy as well. There's plenty of parking in front in the dirt & then extra parking we had to go towards the back in near the cidery. Despite how busy the parking lot & cidery initially seemed, in the apple orchards themselves it was a nice and peaceful time. If you come earlier in the season it's also super peaceful.
Regardless of time of year, we've enjoyed both times at Rose Hill Farm & definitely would come back in the future. We also had a fun time dragging around the provided wagons to carry our apples from field to field. The apples are also delicious! read more