YES! A successful berry picking trip was completed this morning by yours truly. Saturday morning,…read moreYelpers Stephanie S. and Kathi M. and I made the trek all the way to St. Peters, only to have the farm closed for picking at 8:45am! WTF? They were that busy! I was bound and determined to go again and thus hatched my plot to get up early (and I'm NOT a morning person), arrive at the farm early, on a day during the week, when rain was in the forecast. This time, my plotting yielded success! Lakeview Farms is a pretty small U-Pick operation that's in St. Peters. It's really easy to find (score!) and has raspberry and strawberry patches. They also have pumpkins and gourds in the fall. They have a good website with up to date information on picking seasons. They also have a recorded message. They tell you to call the day beforehand to make sure picking conditions are good. It's hard to know when they are going to be picked out for the day. They say they are open from 7:30-11am but they often close way before 11. GO EARLY. Like 8am at the latest! Otherwise you might have trekked out there for nothing. One cool thing about this farm is that instead of going on a picking free for all, they give you your own area to pick in. That way, no one is infringing upon your territory and they can keep track of where has been picked over so the next person who comes to pick goes in an area with riper, not yet picked berries. That's a good model in my mind! When you arrive, you get your container(s), they tell you where to pick, and you do your thing. Then you go pay (CASH OR CHECK ONLY) and they either weigh your bounty (for strawberries) or do it by the container (for raspberries). I picked raspberries this morning and they added up to be less than $2 for one of the standard sized grocery store containers that costs a good $3-4. And you are REALLY buying locally! AND it's fun for kids and adults! They also have something called "digging for diamonds" where you can dig in sand hills for shiny rocks. The sky was ominous and it looked like it was about to pour when I left, so I was in a hurry and didn't ask about it. Another tip: A lot of the raspberries that are ripest and juiciest are in the middle of the bushes, which are thorny. You might want to bring a pair of garden gloves to prevent the ouchies! Oh yeah, and wear tennis shoes. There is mud and the grass is sorta long. I'd give this place 5 stars if I didn't have to get there so darn early to pick! But then again, props for it being a small locally owned place. And CHEAP. I definitely will be back SOON!

This was our first time here and it was fun! We picked strawberries (raspberries are in season…read moretoo). The price is cheaper than the grocery store, but a little expensive compared to Costco. However, you don't get an experience at Costco! When you check out, fill out a card for a pint of free strawberries for the following summer. Also, hold onto your crate! Bring it with you the next time you go picking and get a discount! The staff is friendly and efficient. Definitely going back soon! Easy stress free outing with small kiddos.

One of the things I love about this place is its multi-generational history. Whenever I step on the…read moreproperty, I feel like I have gone back in time when life was a bit simpler, and people respected one another. This is not one of those big commercial farms that are overcrowded with people. Instead, there is plenty of room to roam, and it's great. Our visit last weekend was no different. I have taken my kids here for about 14 years now. We always have fun, whether we are picking apples, pumpkins, or playing. My only complaint is that there usually seems to be a limited staff, and we never walk away thinking, "wow, they were so friendly!" It has never felt like a friendly place. That's surprising to me for a multi-generational family farm. Last weekend was the same, unfortunately. The young lady that weighs the pumpkins was exceptionally grumpy and rude. My kids even talked about her poor attitude. Prices always seem to be relatively high here, although there is no price for admission, which is very nice. However, as we left last weekend, a somewhat oversized woman was walking around the barn entrance, just out of sight from the staff. The kids and I wondered why she was looking at people this way. Then we saw why - She was stuffing mini-pumpkins in her coat and pants! Seriously... stealing mini-pumpkins! In all, we had a great time and continued making fun memories. We will no doubt be back, despite the crankiness.

I've been going to Centennial Farms for a few decades now. While the business exterior has changed…read morequite a bit over the last 20 years, the quality of the apples and pumpkins have remained the same. This isn't an overly-commercial apple-picking farm that's crowded with swarms of people like some farms. Centennial is a grassroots family farm with heart and soul. I really enjoy walking out back to the orchard (though they do have a hayride for those with small children), and going through all the rows of apples. There are multiple varieties of apples clearly labeled with wooden signs in front of each row. One of my favorite varieties of apple they have are Empire apples (and it's not only because I'm a huge Star Wars geek). They are a sweet and sour apple that are great to eat by themselves or wonderful for baking with. When you're done picking, just weigh your own apples on the scale and head up to the register in the barn to pay. Pick-your-own apples are $1.75/pound. If you want a peaceful apple-picking experience out in beautiful Augusta, Mo., then please give Centennial Farms a try!

My two boys, 9 and 7 years old, had the best time feeding the animals and walking around.read more

This place was....interesting…read more I'll be honest, it popped up as a pumpkin patch. My sister just moved to the area and was looking for one close for her kiddos, and this was around the corner, so we decided to give it a try. To start, it was $10/person to get in, which wasn't really promoted. We've lived many different places and have never had to pay to get into a pumpkin patch, so that was a surprise. Kids were the same price, also a surprise. The property is pretty cool, they have some farm animals. They sold food to buy but half the animals you couldn't feed and the other half were already full from being fed so much. We assumed it was a regular petting zoo and bought some food before seeing it, so we ended up with leftover bags of food and no animals to feed. The hay ride only went once hourly so you basically had to wait around forever if you wanted to ride it. The maze was cool and the concept seemed really fun to find a message BUT the first word on the message was "God" and honestly, nowhere did they promote this farm as a religious-based experience. Lastly - the pumpkins. We came here for one reason. They don't even grow pumpkins on site, they ship them in, and they don't keep them stocked. I think we had like 20-30 pumpkins to choose from, if that, and they were picked over. We had a 4YO and a 6YO and they couldn't pick any of the pumpkins up, all the kid size ones were already sold. I feel like this could be a good spot for what it is, and if it was marketed as that - a Christian family fun farm experience. But, that's not what we had expected based on the marketing they had, so it was a bit of a disappointment for us.

We have been to this locally owned orchard several times and have enjoyed it every single time. My…read morekids absolutely love the free playground and the animals you can pet, and honestly, I love them too. The free tractor ride is such a nice bonus and always a hit. All of the picking spots are wonderful and make for such a fun family outing. The bakery on site is also amazing and always has the best goodies. Overall, this is one of our favorite places to visit and we always have a great time.

A nice alternative to some of the bigger and more popular orchards around St. Louis and across the…read moreriver in Illinois, Braeutgam Orchards is definitely a place you'll want to visit in the Fall for your annual pumpkin and apple picking traditions. Crowds were manageable and any line we stood in (whether it was for the tractor to take us to the orchard or in the bakery to buy goods) didn't take long to go through. Loved that there was no additional fee to ride the tractors to the orchards. The one downside is that while there is a bakery, there is no food stall to buy lunch or snacks like chips or hot dogs. If you plan on spending a portion of your day there, you'll want to be sure to bring a cooler with food. We made the mistake of assuming there would be things to buy for lunch and we left starving after snacking on a couple of apple cider donuts.

Last year I missed lavender season. This place is run by two sisters. The farm has been in their…read morefamily since 1863. It was a produce farm, switched to crops and in 2016 the sisters took over the farm and now it's a lavender farm. All of their products are handmade on the farm. They offer Pick your own or you can just shop. Delicious lemonade and popcorn to enjoy while you shop. The season is very short so I encourage you to get on their website.

Only a 3 because the weather was awful! Really enjoyed the bullriding and barrel racing.read more

I have a child on the spectrum with sensory issues. He was so excited, but does not do well wearing…read morea bracelet. An elderly employee named Bob at the entrance said all bracelets must be on. We then explained that due to our son's sensory issues due to autism, he would not be able to wear the bracelet. The man responded "too bad" and said we would not be allowed in. We then kept saying he is autistic and will show the bracelet that we will carry for him. The man then said, "We cannot trust people," and walked away. Since he just walked away and we had tickets and bracelets to show we continued to enjoy the activities despite this ignorant employee. This was our 3rd year going and due to this our last. I would recommend that if anyone you plan to attend the pumpkin patch has a disability DO NOT GO HERE.

This is an entire campus of fall fun! I came in while visiting my daughter. The country store has a…read moregreat selection of wine. We purchased multiple varieties of apples, they do a hayride. They had crafts to purchase, and there's also a restaurant on site. Everyone here is so friendly and it's a beautiful place. It's definitely a great spot for families to spend an afternoon.

Love Eckert's! The farms are so beautiful and the staff is so friendly! I love that they have…read morededicated props throughout the fields for photo ops, they really care about the customer experience. They also have a little shop set up to purchase ciders and waters in the fields which was a nice surprise. We had a blast doing Sunday Bingo, and the prizes were definitely worth it. If you go to the Cider Shed, definitely try the Orchard Summer (my bfs fav) and the Cider Donut (amazing sweet/cinnamon flavor). The batches taste a little different everytime, but that's what you get for local, homemade beers! At the restaurant, the bartender was great. He was very personable and chatted a while, and then left us alone to have our date night. The wine flight was a great way to try everything, definitely recommend. I took a star off only because I feel like the food wasn't that impressive. It was more like a Cracker Barrel and not as flavorful as I hoped. Overall, love the vibe at Eckerts and will keep going back!

I love this place! Unfortunately I'm not in West Co anymore so this place would be one hell of a…read moredrive, so unless I take my little cousins in O'Fallon, MO, out there, I won't be back. But I went once this past summer because my then-boyfriend was feeling really stressed out with life and I wanted to do something sweet to make him feel better. He loves the outdoors and looooves blackberries, and blackberries happened to be in peak season. So I found this farm and took him out there. The drive to get out there was very pretty. It's in New Melle and I got to drive down winding roads past farms and quaint houses and gardens - very scenic. Parking was convenient, the staff people were very friendly. The blackberry farm was huge! And they were BEAUTIFUL. There is NOTHING like blackberries right off the bush. They looked like big sparkling gemstones. No lie. And the bushes were thornless, which was really nice. The only downside is that you have to get here EARLY. We luckily got there right as it opened and were able to get a good haul of blackberries, but when we wanted to try the blueberries (which was a significantly smaller field), they had already run out for the day. It took less than an hour to run out. Also, the line got LONG. Like I said, we were there early enough and didn't screw with the blueberries, so we got a good place in line, but man. We were starting to feel like we had to elbow little old ladies out of the way to get the berries quickly enough to not be last in line. Apparently it's always like this - a scramble to get the berries and running out in less than an hour - you'd think they would plant enough to serve the customer demand, but what do I know? They also had the most delicious wildflower honey I've ever tasted. I unfortunately missed peach season. If it wasn't so far from me I would totally be back. The blackberries were huge, juicy, ripe, sweet, and no tasting of pesticide like the ones I buy from the chain-grocery stores. Most incredible tasting blackberries I've ever had. Excuse me while I wipe the drool off my keyboard from just thinking about it.

We had such a great time picking blackberries and peaches. We went to pick peaches but decided at…read morethe last minute to also pick some blackberries. The blackberries are the most amazing blackberries I have ever tasted. They tasted like candy. We got there early and there was a great selection. However, I could see where the selection would be much more limited as the morning went on, which is very typical of smaller farms. We will definitely be back (maybe even again this summer for more blackberries).

When I want fresh from the farm produce, I enjoy visiting Thies Farm in Maryland Heights. I often…read morevisit after a leisurely walk through Creve Coeur Park. They have a great selection of fresh fruit and vegetables as well as a variety of jams and jellies. During the month of October, you can choose from an assortment of pumpkins and gourds. Kids can enjoy Pumpkinland with activities such as a corn maze, swings and a straw-castle. Fall vegetables during November and Christmas trees in December. Stop in at Thies Farm for Fall fun and fresh produce!

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -…read more May, 2023 Review Thies Farm has the best strawberries. Last visit we picked so many that we still have two jars of preserves in our freezer... great flavor on toast, waffles, pancakes. And the strawberries are the most flavorful we've enjoyed. If you arrive early enough, before they are all gone, you can get some that the Thies team picks. You can also pick your own strawberries. We also picked up some just-grown spinach, cucumbers, carrots and canned peaches. I also got Mom some flowers for Mother's Day. Thank you, Thies Farm! - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Previous Review, 2021-07 / July Fantastic variety of top quality fruits, vegetables, more... great staff We have visited Theis Farm, in Maryland Heights, several times over the years, typically in the fall, for the pumpkin patch, more often when the kids were younger. This year we've visited four times so far... because Theis Farm is so much more than the pumpkin farm. Mother's Day flower pots, still looking great on Mom's porch! Lettuce, cucumbers and squash. Strawberries so good you'll be tempted to never buy another one at the store ever again... red throughout... so good... and then your wonderful wife and daughter make jars and jars and jars of strawberry jam and you get to enjoy for months to go. Blackberries... so good. Peaches... some picked early for July 4... still good... looking forward to the crop's arrival in a couple weeks. Pick-your-own green beans. And the sunflower patch... thousands of sunflowers... some just a lighter color of yellow; others a deeper combination of oranges and reds... and the bumblebees and butterflies and dragonflies. And pickles... and sweet corn relish... and peach relish... and Caesar's salad dressing and southern peach vinaigrette dressing... and honey and creamed honey... and lettuce. And a staff who are friendly and helpful and willing to educate you along the way. Thank you, Theis' Farm! - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

They had bunnies, goats and Shetland ponies...like sold…read more Look I realize we're here for the fruit which they also had...cherries, blueberries, peaches and currants were ripe today. It's about a hour from STL city, mostly highway. Pick a playlist and vibe. I will definitely go back.

My new favorite farm! This beats out all the popular farms and I can't wait to come back each…read moreseason. The flowers were amazing and great price to pick yourself! It was such a special time with some small animals there as well. The people were also very helpful and friendly.