The time is ripe to go apple picking in Ohio’s local Orchards

For anyone interested in heading out with a group of friends or family over the next several weekends of fall, fruit picking is a great outlet that is fun, easy and relatively cheap.

Located 21 minutes outside of Wooster, Moreland Fruit Farm has pick-your-own orchards full of apples and is open from September through  October, seven days a week. Additionally, they offer a wide selection of pears and berries.

Rittman Orchards is a 28-minute drive and has been operating since the early 1920s. It has 70 varieties of apples and begins the pick-your-own  option in late September. It is open Tuesday through Sunday.

Currently at Geig’s Orchard in Seville, a wide variety of McIntosh, Zestar, Ginger Gold, Gala, Honeycrisp, Cortland and Ozark Gold apples are available for picking on the weekends starting in October.

A 26-minute drive, Geig’s Orchard is open seven days a week, and also sells a large variety of jams, pie fillings and other treats made in its own cannery.

For those willing to make the 47-minute drive, Hillcrest Orchards in Walnut Creek advertises a day or weekend of fun for the whole family. It has a four-acre corn maze and a large apple orchard and pumpkin patch where people can pick their own fruits and vegetables on the weekends. A family-owned and run operation, Hillcrest Orchards has been open since 1928 and consists of 90 acres, a third of those acres being dedicated just to apple orchards.

Any of these orchards would be a great selection for a place to spend the day, enjoy the fresh outside air, camaraderie and delicious apples picked straight from the tree.