The United States has a long history with cherries, dating back to its very first president. In 1806, Mason Locke Weems published the fifth edition of his book "The Life of Washington," according to Mount Vernon. In it, he created the now legendary myth that, as a child, George Washington damaged one of his father's cherry trees while playing with a hatchet. Weems included the story to positively display Washington's virtue and honesty. It also connected America to the symbol of the cherry tree, which would become a reflection of America's pride and values.
Fast forward a couple of hundred years, and there's nearly nothing more American than pie, according to the American Pie Council. And while pies come in many flavors, Instacart claims cherry pie is the favorite variety of 11 states, more states than any other pie claimed.
Like pies, there are many different types of cherries, and while not all are ideal for baking, some are perfect for snacking, and others work best for brewing. Regardless of the treats you plan to prepare, be they baked or brewed, these orchards will surely have some of the most delicious cherries you'll find in America.
This beloved family-run orchard has evolved since Bill and Ruth Lautenbach purchased the farm in 1955 to become one of the premier stops in Door County. Lautenbach's Orchard Country Winery and Market was run by the eldest son of the founders, Bob Lautenbach, until his death in 2021. Since then, it has been passed to his children, who continue the legacy.
Lautenbach's gained their market in the '70s. Since then, the space has grown to include a tasting room and a market filled to the brim with kitchen gadgets, baking products, chocolates and candies, pie fillings, coffees, juices, cherry salsa, and other condiments, all specializing in Lautenbach's fruit. The winery has also grown to have a massive collection of white, red, rose, fruity, port, and seasonal wines as well as hard cider. Since Door County is such a popular destination for picking out the best fresh cherries, Lautenbach's offers cherry picking from the middle of July through early August. If you're looking for a challenge, try to break the cherry pit spit records. Then, in the winter, enjoy a beautiful, horse-drawn sleigh ride through the orchards.
If location is everything, this orchard may just take the cake. Bittner-Singer Orchards opened as Singer Farms in 1912 as a dairy, cattle, and fruit farm. As fruit became a primary focus, other aspects were phased out. The fruit from Bittner-Singer Orchards appears in stores and markets across the Northeast. Bittner-Singer Orchards is located along Lake Ontario, not far from Niagara Falls, New York, which is an outstanding fruit-growing area with moderate temperatures and exceptional soil drainage.
Throughout July, you can pick 14 different types of cherries from one of the largest dwarf cherry orchards throughout the eastern part of the United States. Bittner-Singer Orchards also sells tart cherry juice in concentrate from Singer Farm Naturals to many grocery stores. This orchard is a significant voice in the Northeast, and the fruit from Bittner-Singer Orchards can also be found in wines at the Winery at Marjim Manor Wines.
Many orchards around the country produce delicious fruit, but not all of them are as dedicated to being stewards of the land in the same way Catoctin Mountain Orchard is. In 1948, Catoctin Mountain grew apples and peaches, but when Harry and Helen Black purchased the farm in 1961, they extended into other fruits and berries. Now, the orchard grows many different types of fruits and vegetables, including sweet and tart cherries. In addition, the Black family proudly uses Integrated Pest Management (IPM) techniques that help manage pests safely and ethically.
Like many others, Catoctin Mountain Orchard offers u-pick opportunities for cherries from late June to the beginning of August. It also offers several jarred cherry products, including salsas, jams, juice, preserves, butters, and freshly baked or frozen pies. One of Catoctin Mountain Orchard's claims to fame is their Autumn Gala variety of apple, which was discovered over 20 years ago on one of their trees.
In 1908, founder Ralph Levering asked the U.S. Department of Agriculture where he should plant apples to create the most abundant crop possible. Their answer? The Blue Ridge Mountains. Levering made a couple of pilgrimages to the southeastern slope of the Blue Ridge Mountains and decided that this was indeed the place. For many years, Levering Orchard was primarily an apple orchard, but soon the Leverings began to take note of how popular a couple of nearby cherry trees were and decided to plant their own to draw the same crowds. It was a risk — while the apples would surely grow in abundance here, it wasn't immediately clear whether cherries would have the same success.
The risk paid off. Now, with 56 varieties of cherries, Levering Orchard offers an unforgettable u-pick experience. But cherries aren't the only thing Levering Orchard turns out. During off-season times, Orchard Gap Press produces stories, cookbooks, and nonfiction. Levering Orchard supports the arts in other ways too. Taking inspiration from nearby North Carolina, Orchard Theater hosts stories, plays, and other shows in its outdoor theater.
Biological farming practices are one of the most critical aspects of this orchard. This means that Bill's Berry Farm puts a significant emphasis on the overall health and well-being of their soil. This choice is different from typical farming practices because a regular farm will focus on problems as they arise and treat those concerns with fertilizers and pesticides. However, biological farming practices attempt to treat the problem before it happens. According to Bill's Berry Farm, this makes their plants more resistant to disease and generally healthier.
The cherries at Bill's Berry Farm are available from June to July, and these berries certainly are a Washington state staple. Some popular varieties include the Rainier cherry and the Montgomery Tart cherry. During cherry season, this orchard offers plenty of fun activities, including u-pick opportunities, cherry donuts straight from the fryer, playgrounds, animals to pet, and even a backyard riding train.
While other orchards have specific operating hours for their stores, this orchard operates under an honor system when no one is working to man the store. The Draper Girls' Country Farm is built on the success of its u-pick business. In addition to visitors checking out their orchard, there are also plenty of opportunities to browse a lovely country store full of knickknacks and delicious items to take home. When no one is there for you in the store, customers can still purchase goods by placing money in a green lockbox. But perhaps what makes this orchard most unique is the incredible panoramic view of Mount Hood.
The Draper Girls' Country Farm is well-known for the Draper Girls' Cider Company. When the farm was first settled in 1962, it created fresh sweet cider using a classic wooden press. While the traditional cider remains a farm staple, it certainly has evolved since those early days. Now, the hard cider from the Draper Girls' Cider Company has received several prestigious awards, including the Portland International Cider Cup award for Best New Cidery in 2018 and even a gold medal celebrating cherry cider.
Tougas Family Farm began operation when Maurice and Phyllis Tougas purchased the swath of land on which it now sits. Initially, they offered apples and peaches exclusively, but cherries and others entered the equation to replace some of the older trees. Since then, the farm has gained a great deal of acclaim, even being preserved by the Agricultural Preservation Restriction in 1986. According to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, this means that the farm is protected from future construction to help maintain the integrity of the agricultural industry in Massachusetts. Now, the farm works in conjunction with UMass Extension to forge ethical farming practices that are both safe and environmentally friendly using Integrated Pest Management.
The farm opens its fields to school groups, companies looking for a fun outing, and families looking to gather their own fruit. The farm store offers everything from fresh fruit to preserves made right on the property. Tougas Family Farm has a strong u-pick business, offering rotating selections of fruits as they ripen throughout the various seasons.
This farm is young, but is already beginning to grow into a second-generation farm. King Orchards has seasons that run from June to October, rotating as new fruit ripens. Stop by their market stands where you'll find their fresh fruit as well as baked items and even frozen fruit for that delicious taste year-round. Even if you can't make it to the orchard, King Orchards will happily ship cherry concentrate and frozen cherries harvested during peak season.
Many customers come to King Orchards looking for Montmorency cherries to use in baked goods. These cherries need to be pitted and then frozen, canned, or baked within 24 hours after picking. For this reason, King Orchards offers a commercial pitting machine to make your job super easy. King Orchards also offers to sell fruit concentrates for brewing throughout the year. King Orchards creates its concentrates by sending the fruit through an evaporation process, so you get the purest fruit concentrate possible.
This Michigan orchard began in 1907 and has been in the Moelker family ever since. In July, Moelker Orchards and Farm Market welcomes families to pick their cherries from the Moelker sweet and tart crop. You get to choose between three different types of sweet cherries (black sweet, white-gold, selah sweet) and one variety of tart cherry.
Moelker Orchards and Farm Market offer visitors a fun event called "Storytime in the Orchard." This fun event teaches young children about farming, tours Moelker, and lets kids pick apples, decorate pumpkins, and play games. This event is less than $10 per child, and adults are free. And if you love pie, you simply must check out the pie flights at Moelker. During a few scheduled days throughout the year, Moelker sells pie samples of several different types. Commonly, Moelker offers cherry crumble, apple, cherry berry, peach, blueberry, and Dutch apple flavors.
This orchard is on its fifth generation of farmers, and they're striving to bring something new to the orchard landscape. Three Nunns Farm celebrates four seasons: strawberry, cherry, peach, and pumpkin. The cherry season kicks off in May and goes through June. The trees you pick from are mature, 7-year-old trees producing several different varieties of cherries, including popular choices like rainiers and black pearls.
In addition to cherry-picking, you can also enjoy a tractor ride that provides more of a full farm experience so that your family can learn more about farming, growing food, and different aspects of taking care of the land. In the fall, Three Nunns Farm hosts a fall festival with a massive maze designed and cut yearly by the orchard staff. You can even select from more than 40 different types of pumpkins, and even if the pumpkin is over 2 pounds, they all cost the same.
Hood River Cherry Company is on a mission to bring you incredible, delicious cherries from a high-elevation farm that claims to grow the perfect cherry. The farm dates back to 1993 when Kathryn Klein and Brad Fowler planted their first tree.
You'll find Hood River Cherry Company at the base of Mount Hood, featuring 275 acres of sweet cherries. Instead of harvesting the industry standard 10 tons of fruit per acre, Hood River Cherry Company gathers roughly half that. This is how the orchard ensures its trees get more nutrients to produce sweeter cherries. In fact, Hood River Cherry Company's cherries typically reach a sugar level of 21 Brix, while most cherries sold on the market his 15 Brix. While this may take longer, the outcome is worth it. In addition to fresh cherries, Hood River offers cherry chutney, salsa, spread, and jam.
Barrett Orchards in Yakima, Washington offers delicious fruit that grows in volcanic soil and has been cared for by six generations of farmers. What's more, Barrett offers customers a beautiful, scenic stroll throughout the bountiful orchards.
At Barrett Orchards, you'll also find plenty of seasonal decor, fresh ice cream, and cheese. In June and July, Barrett Orchards offers u-pick cherry day in addition to their selection of market items, including sweets, spreads, soups, and produce. Though all market items are not fresh from the orchard, the fruit spreads are, and Barrett Orchards' selection is massive. They offer apricot, blueberry, peach, red raspberry, strawberry, and strawberry-rhubarb. You'll also find a peach-chipotle salsa that brings a sweet and fruity, yet spicy flavor. Around the Christmas season, the market at Barrett Orchards utterly transforms into a beautiful destination for Christmas decor. A farmstand with some holiday cheer sounds good to us.
These farms grew from a small holding to a collection of family farms throughout Utah and Idaho. Cherry Hill Farms in Santaquin, Utah is the family's largest and oldest farm, established in 1957. It's also one of the largest cherry producers in the entire state of Utah, and provides plenty of fun activities for its guests.
This orchard also serves as a beautiful year-round wedding celebration location with incredible scenery for your magical, romantic day. The fall festival, which runs from late September through late October, includes a massive corn maze, a cherry pit sandbox, games, and delicious food. Earlier in the year, the bloom festival is a gorgeous backdrop for a car ride through Cherry Hill Farm's cherry blossoms. You'll also have the opportunity to visit with baby animals and play games. There's probably no better place for that beautiful spring photo with your family.
Richard Haas' Cherry Hill Orchards started as a small growing operation in 1970 but grew to be much bigger in the 1980s. Since the beginning, however, conservation and land stewardship have been hallmark values at Cherry Hill Orchards. The orchard now grows cherries on 23 acres and their crop consists of 30 different varieties, as well as several other fruits and vegetables.
Though the cherry season may last for a short period of time, the Cherry Hill Orchards and Farm Market is open year-round. There, you'll be delighted to find the typical wares of an orchard market, including jams, baked goods, and seasonal items. However, unlike the typical orchard market, this one comes with its own little mini-vacation because the orchard prides itself on being a "getting back to nature" experience that places you squarely into a beautiful, idyllic country setting.
Weaver's Orchard began modestly with the sale of fruits and vegetables on the street corners of the nearby town of Reading, Pennsylvania in the 1930s. The orchard is now in its fourth generation and has continued growing, now selling its produce locally and wholesale and welcome visitors for fruit picking and a variety of other activities.
Weaver's Orchard is a popular destination for delicious u-pick opportunities. Cherries are available here from mid-June through early July. Aside from cherries, the orchard also offers opportunities to pick apples, pears, blackberries, kiwi, raspberries, flowers, and vegetables. It is truly a farm for all. Throughout the year, Weaver's Orchard also offers Read n' Pick Storytime. You and your child will hear a theme story and then take a hayride to the field to pick a container of fruit. It's the perfect opportunity to learn more about farming and enjoy the beautiful scenery.