I am not certain that most folks would associate Minnesota with apple corchards, but there is much in this state that would surprise people.
There are multiple orchards close to the Twin Cities (Minneapolis/Saint Paul/ suburbs) and these forms offer a wide variety of fun opportunities.
Apple orchards wanting to sell on site often also offer corn mazes and rides for the pickers and kids. The rides help get the pickers around larger farms and make it easier to return heavy baskets of apples to the cashiers, but also are just fun. The farm we visited pulled a hay wagon with a John Deere B. I drove this type of tractor through Iowa fields 50 years ago on our family farm.
I do like apples, but my favorite reason for visiting pick your own orchards is because they often sell baked goods. My favorite is the apple donut. This orchard had the mini version of this treat and they were purchased as quickly as the machine could make them.
Back to Minnesota apples. Probably the thing about Minnesota and apples that is the least known is that the University of Minnesota has developed some of the most popular apple varieties. The best recent example would be the honey crisp.
This orchard had many varieties to choose from. One particular variety brought back memories. My first job was at the State University of New York located in Cortland, NY. There was a Cortland apple. We were at this Minnesota orchard with our daughter who was born in the Cortland hospital. Her kids did not seem that impressed to learn of the connection.
