where-to-go-fruit-picking-in-nsw

Spring to summer

The Peach Farm

Peaches & nectarines (September – November)

This pet-friendly farm, located near Yamba, offers a variety of family-friendly activities, including kid-friendly events and private picnics. Spend the day picking peaches and letting the children run around with the farm animals.

10 Estate

Cherries from November to December, figs from January to March

The adults can enjoy a glass of wine while the children fill buckets full of cherries in this Mudgee apple orchard. Later in the summer, figs will be available. Citrus groves were also planted to allow for future PYO. Do not leave without a popsicle of cherry.

Bidgee Strawberry and Cream

Strawberries from November to May

You can pick the bursting red fruit you want on this Riverina Farm with confidence, knowing that it was grown in a sustainable and environmentally friendly manner. You pay $5 to enter and $6 for every 250g of fruit you choose. The farm offers farm tours, as well as a farm gate shop that sells strawberry jam, strawberry ice cream, and strawberry pie made with Riverina Milk.

Allambie Orchard and Cafe

Cherries from November to December

You can buy sweet cherries from Allambie Orchard in Wombat for only $10 per kilogram on your way to Wagga Wagga. Bring your picnic to enjoy the PYO cherries, or order ice cream or cherry pie from the cafe. If you missed the harvest window, you can still visit during September or October for a cherry blossom tour.

Clyde River Berry Farm

Blueberries from December to January

This eco-friendly farm, nestled in the hinterland of NSW’s South Coast, is located on the banks of the Clyde River. It provides a perfect environment to grow sweet and juicy blueberries. The farm is open daily during the PYO season. While blueberries are the mainstay, they also have blackberries, strawberries, and other berries, depending on what season it is. Please do not leave without tasting their homemade berry jams and ice cream.

Ricardoes, Tomatoes, and Strawberries Farm

Strawberries (year-round)

Ricardoes, in Port Macquarie, you can pick strawberries all year round thanks to the enclosures adorned with plump red berries. You only pay what you take. Send the children off with buckets to collect as much as they can.

Berrylicious Strawberries

Strawberries (year-round)

You can eat as much as you like for only $20 (kids pay $10, but babies are free). The greenhouse-grown strawberries are two meters above the ground and ready for picking and eating every day, regardless of the weather.

Meliora Farm

Mandarines and oranges (all year), avocados from August to January

This beautiful farm is located in Peats Ridge on the Central Coast. Guests can bring a blanket to enjoy the scenery after their fruit-picking excursion. This farm was established in 1925. Avocados and citrus are grown on the property. Pick-your-own dates have been set to coincide with when the fruit is at its freshest. Meliora Farm Bags are provided to visitors upon arrival. They can fill them up with fruit (approximately 12 kg).

Summer to autumn

Wombat Heights Orchard

Persimmons, sugar plums, and figs are available from April to May.

This sprawling farm is located in the township of Wombat. While cherries are its main crop, you can pick a variety of other fruits, such as strawberries, figs, peaches, persimmons, and sugar plums. Wombat Heights does not sell its fruit in markets, so you can choose the best fruits. Bring your lunch and enjoy a picnic in the lush, two-acre garden.

Darkes Glenbernie Orchard

Apples (January-April), peaches (November) and nectarines

The family-run Illawarra stone fruit and apple orchard, which has been in operation for six generations, is located in the beautiful Darkes Forest. It’s more than just a place to eat a freshly picked apple. Darke’s cider is made from apples that tourists do not pocket. You can get a tractor ride for free when you book a 90-minute tour of the orchard.

Cedar Creek Orchard

Persimmons, persimmons, and stone fruit are available from April to November.

Since the 1940s, the Slim family has been caring for Cedar Creek Orchard near Thirlmere. You can take a guided tour of the 100-acre farm, sample some fruit, and see apples being crushed to make juice. The Slim family also sells their delicious juices, honey, and ciders (alcoholic and non-alcoholic), which you can purchase at the shed. At certain times of the year, you can even book a pick-your-appointment.

Norland Fig Orchard

Figs from December to April

A perfectly tree-ripened, sweet, and jammy fig is the perfect summer treat. They are often too soft to carry, so they’re not comparable with supermarket figs. Norland Fig orchard, a stone’s throw from Orange with views towards Mount Canobolas, gives fig lovers a chance to select their own over two harvests. Norland grows four varieties, including the black Genoa fig, with its dark purple skin, and the white Adriatic fig, which has light green-skinned skin. You pay $5 for entry, and then you choose what to pick. It’s best to contact them to confirm that they are accepting visitors, as it is a working farm.

Hillside Harvest

Stone fruits (January-February), apples and figs from March to May

The sweet smell of blackberries, plums, and peaches fills the summer at Hillside Harvest in Orange. You can visit any day of the week to pick your seasonal fruit or let the kids do the work while you relax in the Farm Store Cafe. There is an entry fee, and you should call ahead to see what fruit trees are available.

Pine Crest Orchard

Persimmons, chestnuts, and walnuts from April to June.

This family-run Blue Mountains apple and pear orchard has been growing apples and pears for more than 40. They also offer chestnuts, walnuts, and chestnut ice cream. Apple varieties include the most popular, as well as lesser-known types such as Tydeman’s or Akane.

TNT Prod

Persimmons, tomatoes and apples (April-June), Apples (January-June),

Picking your produce in Bilpin is a great day out for groups, couples, friends, and families of all sizes. You can pick fresh tomatoes, persimmons that are sweet and crunchy, pink lady apple, and other seasonal fruits. Also, you can buy Bilpin honey, Bilpin Apple Juice, local jams, oils, and olives.

Shields Orchard

Apples from February to May

The crisp, sweet Blue Mountains apples are among the best in Australia. Their flavor is even more aromatic when they’re picked from the tree. Shields Orchard, in Bilpin, is the perfect place to experience this during apple season. You can start reaping the Royal Gala in February and continue until the Sundowners are ready to be determined at the end of May. There is no entrance fee, but you will need to make a reservation.

Mouat’s Farm

Apples from February to June, cherries from December to January

The Batlow Farm in the foothills of Snowy Mountains has a large number of fruit trees. Some of them were only seedlings when they were planted in the 1920s. You can fill your boot with apples, cherries, and berries if you are traveling to Beechworth along the Snowy Valley Way. In the summer, you can pick your own cherries and Gala apples. Then, Kanzi, Fuji Granny Smith, Pink Lady, and other varieties will be available until early June, when the picking season is over.

Nutwood Farm HTML0

Chestnuts & Walnuts (March to April)

The chestnut season in NSW lasts only two months. Nutwood Farm, Mount Irvine, is a great place to PYO walnuts and chestnuts at $11/kg. Wear enclosed, strong-soled shoes to protect your hands from the spiky burrs of cliché.

Diego Bonetto Mushroom Foraging Workshop

Pine mushrooms from April to June

Diego Bonetto, a professional forager, will guide you through the Penrose State Forest of the Southern Highlands in search and harvesting edible pine mushrooms. The workshop is part treasure hunt and part eco-education. You will receive a box full of fresh mushrooms, along with a taste of them fried in garlic oil by Bonetto.

Ozia Tours

Apple & Persimmon tour (May to June).

Join a tour offered by Ozia Tours if you prefer to have someone else take you on your fruit-picking adventure. This full-day tour departs from Sydney or Parramatta and takes you to Bilpin, where you can pick your apples for $5 per kilogram or persimmons for $10 per kilogram. After lunch and an apple cider at a nearby brewer, the tour ends with Mount Tomah.

Kookootonga Chestnut & Walnut Farm

Chestnuts and walnuts (March to April)

Also nearby in the Mount Irvine region, Kookootonga has been owned by the Scrivener family since 1897, and the farm’s first chestnuts and walnuts were planted more than 100 years ago. The farm is still family-run, and visitors can head over to PYO chestnuts for $10/kg and walnuts for $12/kg. There’s a cottage for overnight stays, and if you want to bring every member of the family, dogs are allowed on leads.

 

Winter

Multiple locations

Truffles (June to August)

The arrival of the cooler months brings one of the dining industry’s most prestigious ingredients, the truffle. You can forage for your own in a range of farms across the state: go on the hunt with Walter the dog at Oakshade Truffles in Mudgee; unearth premium fresh black and white truffles from the soil at RedGround in Oberon, where you can also stay the night; join a truffle tour at Robertson Truffles in the Southern Highlands; hunt with the dogs and a small group at Gulaga Gold on the South Coast; search the English and French oak trees at Hidden Valley Farms in Goulburn; sign up for the annual ‘Forage & Feast’ experience at Orange’s Borrodell Estate, where the hunt is followed y a decadent three-course meal; or join the family-run farm hunt at Blue Frog Truffle Farm in Queanbeyan.

Watkins Family Farm

Mandarins (June), cumquats (July)

The Watkins of Wisemans Ferry in Hawkesbury has been in the citrus business for well over a century. In the winter months, come along on weekends and holidays to pocket plump and juicy mandarins of the Satsuma, Imperial, and Emperor varieties to Pick Your Own (PYO) for just $10 per bucket.

Cedar Farm – Pick Your Oranges Dooralong

Oranges (July to September)

In adorable Dooralong on the Central Coast, head to Cedar Farm to fill your buckets with fragrant and sweet oranges. Grab a picking stick and head into the 15-acre orchard to select your spray-free Navels. Once your arms are laden, weigh your haul and pay only $1.50 per kilogram. Opening times vary, so check their Facebook page before you go.