Hick’s Orchard is a place I actually worked at, as a kid. I feel like everyone in the area has worked at Hick’s at one point or another. It’s one of those pick your own places, with a nice sized farm shop, a hard cider taste room and more all in one space. When I worked at Hick’s, I was always there for apple season – that’s when there is a lot going on as they are best known for their apples, really. But, this time of year, my sister wanted to go blueberry picking – and because I was in town, I figured I would go along too!
Hick’s Orchard is a pretty large place! The first thing we did was check out the goats out front, which have a massive goat jungle gym that they play on – you can pay a few quarters to feed them if you’d like. Once we had our fill of petting goats, we moved inside the farm house to get our blueberry baskets. To pick blueberries, you can get small baskets inside, go and pick on your own, then come back to the farm to pay. The signs leading us to the blueberries were easy to follow and there were other people picking along with us in the field! Previously, I have picked apples, strawberries and raspberries, but I had not picked blueberries! They grow in bushes, off of the ground, and you can put your basket under their branch, then lightly run your fingers against the berries to get them to fall off. These were fresh and quite sweet – we ended up picking a large container full of them between the two of us! There were plenty of other bushes and blueberries around, so it felt really fun to pick them all and get lost in a blueberry forest.
Once we were done picking our berries, I went into the farm shop to explore! There are tons of local goods – apple butters, interesting jams, pressed apple cider, fresh cider donuts, ice cream, fudge, slushies – really so much to get! When it’s autumn and apple season, there is actually more inside the store, due to the large apple displays, so this felt a bit empty in comparison. Despite that, there was still a lot of stuff that we could check out. We also wandered into the tasting house, checking out the wines and seeing the different ciders. It’s a nice place – quite upscale looking – and there are free tastings!
Hick’s Orchard is trying to expand and do more than when I worked there – they do live music nights, have a woodfire pizza going in the evenings, and are looking to expand with a food program. Along with expanding the business side, they want to partner with local schools and encourage children, like I was, to start their first bit of employment with Hick’s Orchard – which is a really cool idea. I enjoyed visiting Hick’s again, and would love to stop by when it’s apple season!
You can check out our other Days Out to see what else we’ve been up too!
Looks like fun! We love going berry picking in the summer. This looks like a fun orchard to visit.
We always go strawberry picking with the whole family!
OMG, this looks like so much fun. I’d love to go blueberry picking with the kids. We do love berries of all kinds. Sounds like a fun day out.
It was a really fun time!
Going to orchards are always so much fun and a great way to enjoy the nice weather. Looks like you had a great time!
It was so bright and sunny!
I love going to orchard, it is so much fun…We’re going to an orchard in September.
Ohh I hope you get some tasty fruit!
What a lovely day trip with your family! We love picking berries as a family and stopping by the farm shop is always a delight
Farm shops often have some amazing treasures!
I LOVE blueberry! Would like to visit this Orchard and try their berries 🙂
Blueberries are so fun to eat too! I eat them way too fast.
I’ve always wanted to go blueberry picking. It looks like it would be so much fun and just the thought of blueberry muffins sounds amazing.
Blueberry muffins are the perfect start to the day as well!
Look at those blueberries they look delicious !! I enjoy picking and visiting a farm for all the fresh produce.
I love how fresh it all is!
Although everyone in my family is ALL city, we do also love outings such as these.
It’s great to have a break from the city! 😛
Oh I love blueberries 😍 That farm shop looks great! I would love to visit the shop and get some yummy jams ❤️
I love the jam selection there!