Just picked apples at Homestead this weekend. They cycle through several varieties over the season, and the Cameos are plentiful right now--they were sweet, crisp, and delicious. We also got a bunch of SunCrisps, which are a longer-lasting golden apple.

PP here. This is from Butler's Orchard website:

"Butler's is an Integrated Pest Management Farm. We have a professional scout who is with us weekly to check our crops for insects and disease pressures. This allows us to reduce our applications and move toward more sustainable production systems."

http://www.butlersorchard.com/pyo.html

1) Find what variety of apples you like and find a place that has them. Butler's in MoCo has a good variety. Sometimes pick-your-own places have little stores where you may be able to get free samples or buy one apple at a time before you pick a ton.

2) I don't know of local you-pick places that have organic apples, but there might be some somewhere. Apples are hard to grow, particularly in our humid area, without some kind of chemical pesticide or fungicide at some point. Responsible growers minimize fungicide/pesticide use and use more environmentally friendly methods--look on orchard's websites or call them.

Anonymous wrote:I don't think it's about hte location of the farm, it's about the type of apples. Check their website or call them to see what types of apples they are currently offering.

We went to Hartland (or something, it's near Frederick) a few weeks ago and there were only 3 types of apples available, and 2 of them were not very good. So we loaded up on half a bushel of the kind we liked (jonagold) and headed home; next time i'll be sure to call ahead so we can get more variety in our basket

I agree with this. We go to Homestead Farms every year and I try to pick a variety of apples, but there are definitely some I like better than others. If you find a variety you like, make sure to go when they are available.

I don't think it's about hte location of the farm, it's about the type of apples. Check their website or call them to see what types of apples they are currently offering.

We went to Hartland (or something, it's near Frederick) a few weeks ago and there were only 3 types of apples available, and 2 of them were not very good. So we loaded up on half a bushel of the kind we liked (jonagold) and headed home; next time i'll be sure to call ahead so we can get more variety in our basket

There are threads in three forums (General Parenting, Off Topic, Food) going on this topic. Here are some links I have.

http://kidfriendlydc.com/2011/09/13/how-bout-them-apples/

http://kidfriendlydc.com/2011/09/23/let-the-weekend-festivities-begin/

Washington DC
Pumpkin Patches & Fall Festivals
http://www.our-kids.com/public/t/?f=5&s=129&t=285

F/u question to that...usually I make sure to buy organic apples (on the list of foods to always buy organic) but I wonder about the apple picking places. I realize that it costs $$ to get certified organic, so how do you now whether a farm has safe practices but just hasn't applied for certification or whatever? Are there Pick-Your_own farms that you know of or can recommend?

We did Homestead a few years ago, and I really didn't like their apples. My DS wants to go apple picking again, but I want to make sure we get some tasty apples this time - I'll even go up to Landcaster if need be. Any suggestions?