Hillside Orchard & Farm Market

Hillside Orchard at Hinckley has been in the same family since Ward planted the first peach and apple trees between 1948 and 1960, and it tells its own history properly: from a board-and-blocks display in the front yard, to a roadside stand, to the pole-barn market that opened in August 1982.

What You Can Pick

• Blueberries - "throughout the month of July"
• Apples - "typically the first two weekends in October"

Good to Know

The apple picking is a genuinely small window. In the farm's own words: "since 1999, U-Pick Apples has been an annual event—typically the first two weekends in October—which attracts hundreds of families each year!"

The strawberry beds are gone: "During the 1970s, 80s, and early 90s, lush strawberry beds invited young and old alike to fill quart baskets in the warm summer sun. Presently, those who enjoy Pick-Your-Own, head to our beautiful blueberry patch."

Christmas trees close the year. The market runs April to December.

Pro tip: two weekends is four days for the whole apple season, and the farm says hundreds of families come. Go on the Friday if the farm is open one, or go early on the Saturday, because this is not a field you can turn up to on the last weekend of October.