Blackman Homestead Farm

We love this farm! Blackman’s has become a Fall tradition for us. My son loves seeing the goats, pigs and turkeys. We’ve also had a chance to enjoy hayrides where kids can pick their own pumpkin from a pumpkin patch. Many also enjoy apple picking although it’s not really our thing. All of this is great but where Blackman’s really excels is with their cider. 100% preservative free and delicious. I would rate their cider as my second favorite in Western NY (a close second to Cherry Bank). I’m proud to have such a wonderful family farm within minutes from where I live. When next fall arrives I would highly suggest a visit.

One of the greatest things of being in Western New York is the ability to pick different types off fruits /​vegetables at different times of the year. Fall time is apple picking season! We came to Blackman at the first weekend of apple picking season. The staff were very helpful in describing the different types of apples and the orchard is easily laid out so you can go through the different rows and pick the types of apples you want. You can try apples off the tree, they ask that you don’t be wasteful, ie don’t take one bite out of apples and throw it on the ground.
A few things to note:
–You pay for the fruit by the pound. They accept cash and credit card as forms of payment
–Bring some good shoes to walk around in that you aren’t afraid to get dirty. We came on a rainy day and shoes ended up a bit grassy /​muddy.
–They have ladders you can use to gather fruit off the higher parts of the trees. Just be careful that it is stable before you climb on it.
–Try to come multiple times in the season. Depending on the time of season, different types of apples can be picked. We came a second time towards the end of the season and the apples we had picked early on were finished and there were different types of apples to pick.

We always used to take the kids to Becker Farms for apple picking, started looking for an alternative when trips to Becker started to feel like an exercise in having every possible dollar extracted from our pockets. Blackman is a great option. Fairly small scale, but great selection of apples. Reasonable prices and a great selection of free activities for the kids (animals to pet, hale bales to climb on etc). I only lament that the crowds here seem to get bigger every year. They seem to be handling it well so far.

This is the only place I really go with my friends and family. They always have the nicest selection and they have farm animals… which, who doesn’t love animals? Weirdos. Weirdos don’t love animals. Anyway, it’s very reasonably priced here and it’s a fun way to spend a day with friends and family. Love it!
X’s and O’s!
J

This is a must-​see in Niagara County. It’s a nice departure from usual fall farm fests. If we had young’uns, it would have been all the more special. It was a different atmosphere than say, Becker Farms, another family friendly place. Blackman Homestead Farm was less commercialized, there was not a café, bakery, or winery, nor the organization of a much larger business.
The parking was willy nilly, but so what, park where you can, there were some folks to direct you as needed. There were many areas set up to purchase farm fresh apples, grapes and other produce. There were real, live turkeys to view behind a totally fenced area, there were a couple of goats who didn’t look thrilled to be on display. There was a replica of an Indian teepee that you could walk through, kind of neat.
You could hand pick your choice of a variety of apples, although you were a bit on your own about that. At the end of each row of trees, before you walked down to pick, were giant bins of apples already picked, not sure if you were supposed to or allowed to snag apples from the bins to put into your bag, or if you were supposed to go pick your own.
We wandered many rows of trees, no one to guide us, until we found a ladder and then proceeded to pick apples. Before leaving, there was a place to have your bags weighed and totaled to pay. It was quite busy on our visit, a beautiful fall day and we would definitely return, mostly because it was a beautiful day for a ride in Niagara County and this farm was just the right size for a fun-​filled fall afternoon for locally grown produce.

You can expect: full-​fledged orchards with different varieties of apples, wine tastings (on weekends sometime) from Château Buffalo, teepees and a kids play area with lots of hay, fresh cider, slushies, grapes, pumpkins and a plethora of turkey’s that they are getting ready for Thanksgiving (which I believe you can still preorder).
Lots of people come here, so sometimes finding an abundance of apples is challenging depending on the time of year you come. You may have to climb a ladder (at your own risk ;)) to get some, but if you stay around here long enough and listen to the orientation at the beginning of the apple-​picking; you’ll come away with some goods. Apples are very reasonable… at 79 cents a pound or so for the ones you pick.
This is a great family farm that needs to be on your list to get to before the Fall season is up. So… how about them apples?

Took the kids here and this is a great place for apple picking. Lots of varieties to choose from, and so tasty when fresh off the tree. While there they also have some farm animals to checkout. My kids liked checking out the cows in the pasture.
Stop at the little store to pick up some cider too. They use UV light and not heat pasteurization which is great if you want to turn it into hard cider. Plus their fruit butters are delicious. I got the pear and port, which the port is from a local winery up the road.
Great place for fall activities. Easily a nice family outing where you can get some tasty fresh local food.