KC apple spots to hit before the season ends
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The clock is running out on apple season around Kansas City, but four nearby farms still have trees to pick and cider donuts coming out of the fryer.
Why it matters: Apple picking at these farms typically ends by Halloween, according to their websites, and the next crop won't be ready until late summer.
🍎 Historic Weston Orchard & Vineyard
This Weston farm packs around 17,000 apple trees onto 50 acres, and USA Today's readers ranked it among the nation's 10 best in 2019.
- Its dozen or so varieties range from the tart Jonathan to the sweet EverCrisp, which the orchard calls the last one on the tree.
- The bakery presses cider and fries donuts with the same apples visitors pick.
If you go: The orchard is open 9am to 5pm daily. Admission is around $10 on weekdays and $18 on weekends, and apples are priced by weight on the way out.
🚂 Cider Hill Family Orchard
This KCK orchard has more than 6,000 apple trees, and a wagon hauls pickers out to them.
- The orchard also serves cider donuts and apple cider slushes.
If you go: Cider Hill is open 9am to 5pm Tuesday through Saturday and noon to 5pm Sunday. There's no entrance fee.
🌱 Gieringer's Family Farm
This Edgerton farm planted its first apple trees in 2018 and grows them on trellises.
- Its 20-plus varieties include Ludacrisp, which the Ohio family that discovered it nicknamed "Juicy Fruit."
If you go: Picking days change weekly, so check the farm's Facebook first. A half peck costs $15 and a peck costs $25.
🍩 Louisburg Cider Mill
No KC apple roundup is complete without this mill, even though you can't pick apples there. It has pressed cider since 1977.
- Visitors can watch cider get made in the Pressing Barn, and the mill sells its own limited-release Orchard Blend hard cider.
- New this season: The mill collaborated with Boulevard Brewing for new limited edition Old Fashioned Hard Apple Cider.
If you go: The Country Store, which sells fresh cider and donuts, is open 8am-6pm Monday-Saturday and 9am-6pm Sunday.
The bottom line: Grab a bag while you can.