Wilkens Fruit and Fir Farm

Been going for years, great place to visit in the fall for cider donuts and winter for xmas trees

Poor selection of xmas trees, very high prices (even compared to tree lots in Manhattan) and horrible service (bunch of kids who throw the trees around, have a bad attitude and scratched up the car getting the tree on top).

HELL NO!!! way too pricey starting price at $ 75 for pre cut or cut your own tree– section was pathetic-​trees were helpless not full at all– waste of a trip for us and we left with no tree.

I love this place. My family and I go here for apples, pumpkins and Christmas trees. Some have mentioned poison ivy– yes. It is a problem I got it all over my ankles BUT the alternative is chemical sprays which could affect the fruit. So you have to pick your battles. I get bags of apples here and their cider is amazing. Love their bakery too. It gets busy in the fall– so you just have to understand that and be patient. This is one of (if not, the only) pick your own farm in Westchester county. Staff is always friendly.

I really want to be able to give this place 5 stars. It’s amazing for what it is but it’s just nothing fancy– nice shop with treats and goodies. Wasn’t super crowded today although I’ve heard sometimes on the weekends it is.
Sure, the directions to the apple picking area could be better and they could have more available for sale… but there’s no charge for admission and it’s a quaint and calm little area for what it is. I’d definitely go back.

The place gets crowded during apple/​pumpkin picking season.
The hot cider, and pies are top notch here. The cider donuts were a bit underwhelming. I think because i ordered a dozen instead of 2 ½ dozens. I feel like there is higher turnover if you order a ½ dozen bag instead of a full dozen bag. The donuts i received were cold and a bit stale. Luckily I just dunked them into coffee to soften them up.
Love the Caramel Apple Walnut pie and the pumpkin pie here. They are made perfectly.
There is ample parking, and a lot of workers to handle the flow of traffic.
Aside from the cold/​stale cider donuts, my only other gripe was the layout of the cashiers in the bakery section of the farm. I waited on line… placed my orders and then the person dealing with me indicated that I go to register 2. All of the registers were right next to each other, so it’s hard to tell which line go to which register. I just stand next to register 2 when another customer who seemed to have ordered after me squeezed into register 2 before me and paid for her stuff. I was a bit peeved of that, but I just let it go.
They def can improve the layout and make things more efficient.

This was my first orchard experience. I will start with the good:
I came home with a ton yummy apples I picked myself, and the prices for apples and pumpkins were decent.
Now to the bad:
–The pumpkin picking is technically from a huge pile of already picked pumpkins. I expected to be able to pick from the vine. Not the case here.
— The line for the bakery is long so I figured it was worth the 25 minute wait for their famous doughnuts. They were cold and stale. Too bad. I was so excited to try them.
— BEWARE of their merchandise. I expected a cute little farm store would have decent products. I was in line with Black Raspberry preserves, and checked the ingredients. CORN SYRUP as well as HIGH FRUCTOSE CORN SYRUP!!! Arggg! I am so happy I decided to return to the shelf.
I had a decent time overall with my friends, however I don’t feel this was the best orchard experience. I would search elsewhere.

Wanted to give these guys a good reviews because the other reviews were AWFUL and I don’t think they need to be– I went on Sunday and there was no line or wait at all to get in (went around 230pm)
The apple picking was absolutely fine– I didn’t encounter any poison ivy and the bees– there were a few but really nothing crazy–
The farmers market wasn’t crazy nice but it was absolutely fine and the donuts and cider were great.
I would go back.

Pros:
1. Trees had lots of apples.
2. Very inexpensive. A big bag of apples is $ 20, and you can share a bag with friends.
3. Close to New York.
Cons:
1. The only bathrooms are outhouses with a faucet that doesn’t have any soap.
2. You don’t know which apples you’re picking since the only sign is when you enter the huge picking area.

Picking apples here is basically a health risk to you and your family. The place is COVERED in poison ivy, and I am stunned to see reviews on here mentioning this going back to 2011. The people running this place clearly do not care.

An astounding amount of poison ivy.

There is a ton of poison ivy in the fields, some are completely covered in it. The only warning signs I saw were at the checkout of the orchard where you pay for the apples picked. People that were picking in the field were completely oblivious to it until my parents kept warning them. «They wouldn’t let people in here if there was poison ivy?» Then they googled for an image on their phones and said «Oh.».
First time I have seen this much poison ivy in an orchard open to the public. They need to sic a herd (horde?) of goats onto this infestation or just shut down the affected fields to pick your own, it is ridiculous, disingenuous, and a health hazard.
Go further upstate. There are some good orchards in Orange County (Warwick) which are within an hr of NYC. My favorites are in the Mohawk valley like Bellingers.

I love going apple picking, and this farm is completely unorganized and chaos. It took 45 mins to get to the farm from Rt. 202, and the kids «directing traffic» were just pointing into a field.
The farm has minimal apple varieties, and they rope off different sections of the orchard for picking. When we went, the section open had completely bare trees, and the guide suggestion we select the pre-​picked apples (that were collected in big bins).
Overall, completely unimpressed.

I’d like to preface this review by saying I came to Wilkens to have a frolic-​in-​the-​orchard apple picking experience, you know… to dress all countryish, take some pictures, maybe pick a few apples, and eat apple cider donuts… obviously.
I wasn’t willing to drive too far or pay too much for a Sunday Funday experience with my friend, so this was the place we settled on. It was a half hour drive from her house (where I picked her up from) so off we went. WARNING: There’s one road in, and one road out, so for the first weekend in October the wait on that one road was longer than my commute from Long Island, to my friends house, to the farm. COME EARLY!
We each bought a bag to fill with apples and skipped the long line of people waiting for a tractor to take them to the trees. In my opinion, if you have kids, take the tractor for the experience, but you’ll be waiting way longer than the 3.5 minute walk to the trees. The trees were almost bare so there wasn’t much of an apple selection to choose from. I’m not sure if this was due to the rain from the night before, the fact that we arrived around 2pm, or if that was all they had to offer, but regardless it was a little disappointing. The pumpkin patch was a little sad too.
A lot of people wrote reviews about the bees. YOU ARE AT AN ORCHARD! There are fruits, there are plants, there’s nature everywhere… you’re going to have bees. Based on what everyone wrote I thought I may have to arrive here in one of those beekeeper suits but it wasn’t that bad, and I’m terrified of those little buzzers. Suck it up people, if you don’t bother them, they won’t bother you.
After we paid for our apples ($ 20 for ½ a bushel), we wanted to stuff our faces with apple cider donuts. When in Rome…
The line to the bakery was out the door and down the parking lot, so we waited… and waited… and 40 minutes later we were finally inside! The bakery is cute and reasonably priced. They have candies, pies, donuts, cider, hot chocolate, coffee, the works. You even get to watch the donuts being made so that was a really nice touch. Donuts are 75 cents each, or six for $ 4. I got my bagful of them and asked if they sold any milk to accompany my delicious sweet treat. The girl who was helping me said they don’t sell milk but she would charge me for a coffee and I could fill my cup with milk. SWEET. I took my cup and went to the coffee station. As I was pouring milk, the manager or owner (not sure who he was but he was certainly one of the «higher ups») came up to me and very nastily asked «what do you think you’re doing?!» I explained that I wanted milk and was charged for a drink and told I could help myself to some. He said that wasn’t allowed and the second I finished pouring, he grabbed the container from my hand and proceeded to yell at the employees in front of the massive crowd of people saying how that was unacceptable. Well mister, what’s unacceptable is when you cater to kids and families, yet you’re screaming at your high school-​aged employees in front of everyone. Very unprofessional!
For a quick donut review, I had never had an apple cider donut before. They were small so I ate three (calories don’t count on Sundays), and they were good but they weren’t outstanding. The hype around cider donuts in the fall is insane so I guess I was expecting something better? Not sure. But what I did like was the dough itself wasn’t overly sweet, which made the sprinkled sugar over it stand out. I’d eat them again but wouldn’t go out of my way. Oh, and if you want milk, bring your own. You don’t want the Grinch of Wilkens Farm taking away from the joy these donuts could bring.
Overall, I would say I had a nice experience at Wilkens because I accomplished everything I wanted to. However, my suggestion is if you want a more authentic apple picking experience, travel further out of the city. This place is less than an hour from NYC so it’s one of the first locations that pops up on Google, as well as more crowded than if you go further upstate.

This place probably gets between 2 and 3 stars. First, omg. The bees. They were everywhere. In the orchards; in the shop; in the tons of apples on the ground; in our bag from the bakery… The apples were tasty but only if you could get to them. Boring for the kids who couldn’t reach any apples. Also it was a weekday so no tractor ride to the orchard. The apple cider donuts were just ok. Had a fine day.

This farm is really easy to get to. During the summer they do peach picking, and during the fall they do apple picking. I’ve gone for peach picking season: When you arrive and go into the main building, they give you a basket to put your peaches in, and instruct you to head over to the peach orchards. There are about 5 – 6 varieties of peaches and you’re allowed to eat to your heart’s content while you’re there. You pay only for whatever you put in your basket (~$ 2.00/ lb). I went during the down season (NOT apple picking, begins mid-​August), so there were no crowds or lines.
The apple cider donuts and the hot apple cider in their bakery are delicious. There are tables and chairs outside where you can bring your picnic and enjoy some of their peaches or pastries for dessert.
I’m removing 1 star because their gift shop and market are a bit pricey [for a farm].

Short version: very pretty, close to NYC, too expensive, lots of bees
Long version: we drove out to the farm on a Saturday morning in October and it took exactly an hour from midtown Manhattan. We got there and it was packed! There was a bake shop, another shop of goodies (honey, jam, gallons of cider, crafts), a pumpkin patch and an apple picking area. We needed food first so we got in the long line for the bake shop. We waited about 15 minutes but it was worth it! They were sold out of chocolate cider donuts but we bought a bunch of other stuff. 2 cider donuts, 1 blueberry muffin, 1 strawberry rhubarb pie stick, 2 cups of hot apple cider — all for $ 6.50!
After stuffing our faces we wandered over to the apple picking area. There was a $ 20 minimum for apple picking, which works out to about 30 apples, which was way too many for us so we didn’t pick any. We did however find a little pumpkin to buy.
Minus a few stars because of the apple minimum and because there were SO MANY BEES!

I used to live way up in the Catskills (too far for Metro-​North) and every time fall comes around I miss the leaves and apple cider and pumpkins. So my boyfriend suggested we take a trip to do all those things. I searched around and we decided Wilkens was the best bet.
The trip was beautiful and we had a great time finding pumpkins and wandering around the orchard. We didn’t come for apples and it was too late into the season but they have a great selection of trees. The place was very family friendly but us «hipsters» didn’t feel out of place. There is even a bake shop to stock up on treats, but it gets super crowded so watch out for kids jacked up on sugar!
The farm also runs a Pick your own Christmas tree when the time is right. I wish we could go back for one. Definitely suggest this place if you want to get out of the city for a nice and easy day trip. You can take a cab to and from the train station but it won’t be cheap!

So, a group of friends drive up from Manhattan with the intention of including in all of fall’s little wonders at Wilkens farm: picking apples, seeing fall foliage, drinking cider, chowing down on apple cider donuts. Boy, were we ever disappointed. We arrive at the farm around 1:30 to be met by lackadaisical teenage employees standing around, staring open mouthed at the line of cars looking for parking spots, details and directions. We stopped in the store to wait in a 15 minute line for some sub par apple cider donuts and overly sweet cider and stopped in the county store, where we were horrified to discover that a main ingredient in the preserves is CORN SYRUP.
Then, we trot ourselves over to the Orchard, passing the «pumpkin patch» (a group of pumpkins strategically placed around a field, neither attached to anything or growing) to arrive at the entrance to the orchard and THE TREES WERE BARREN. That’s right, there were no apples to be picked. What remained from this seasons haul were grouped in different crates and available to be purchased at a premium (you would be better off at the grocery store). The purveyors of the orchard seemed miffed that we were shocked there were no apples. Apparently, it’s common knowledge among everyone in NY that all trees are barren by Columbus day (a quick glance of their website indicates apples are available through November 1).
Look elsewhere for your fall fix and don’t waste the time or gas to head up here. You will be disappointed.

A fall tradition, Wilken’s is a family run farm that offers a great experience for young and old. I have been coming here for years to do my apple picking. They have a great selection of apples from Roma, to Macintosh, Pink Lady and Granny Smith. The grounds are expansive yet cozy. The apple orchard is decent sized and offers enough room for a large group of people without feeling crowded.
Hay rides to and from the orchard and pumpkin patch are always fun.
When you’re finished picking, go to the farm store and get yourself some hot cider and a few cider donuts.