Ripe for the picking: A guide to favorite U-Pick farms in the area

Not everyone can be a farmer, but U-Pick fields allow all to share in the joy of the harvest. As the summer heat winds down and crisp fall air moves in, we’re offering up a guide to some of our favorite spots in the region.

Take your “pick” from fresh flowers, veggies, berries, apples or pumpkins, depending on the time of year. For the latest hours, pricing and seasonal updates, it’s a good idea to check each farm’s social media pages before you head out. 

GardenView Flowers
U-Pick Flower Garden & Flower Stop

11160 South River Rd., Grand Rapids

Wander the beautiful garden and pick your own bouquet from more than 30 varieties of flowers. Bring a quart-size mason jar or buy a vase at the farm. Open daily June 26-mid September.

Talisman Farm

1501 Township Road K, McClure

This family-owned, specialty-cut flower farm is open seven days a week from dawn to dusk for U-pick flowers. Select your vase or bucket option, place payment in the mailbox, grab a pair of scissors and create a bouquet of your favorites. Season passes are available. Open mid-July through October. 

Gust Brothers 

Summer Market: 11998 Rodesiler Hwy., Ottawa Lake, MI
Pumpkin Farm: 13639 Mulberry Rd., Ottawa Lake, MI

Gust Brothers offers U-Pick vegetables, flowers and pumpkins. Get lost in the beauty of the sunflower trail and bask in 10 acres of fresh flowers and vegetables in the late summer.  Return in the fall for more fun including hayrides, farm animals, cider, donuts and, of course, pumpkins. 

Stevens Gardens

4550 Weckerly Rd., Monclova 

After you pick your own pumpkin from the field, hop on the hay ride or the cow train. Fire the corn cannon, visit the petting zoo and navigate the small straw maze or a corn maze that is just the right size for shorter legs. Don’t miss the apple cider slushies!

BJ Pumpkin Farm

9777 Secor Rd., Temperance, MI

Take a hayride out to the U-Pick pumpkin patch, wind your way through the search-and-find corn maze, crawl through a cornstalk tunnel and visit BJ’s Little Pumpkins Playground. Round out your visit with fresh donuts and cider. 

Trabbic Family Pumpkin Farm

1560 E. Sterns Rd., Erie, MI

After you take a hayride to the field to find your pumpkin, Trabbic Farm has plenty of other activities to keep your family busy including rides, a four-acre corn maze, petting zoo, young children’s play area, cider, donuts and other treats.

The Pumpkin Peddler

20354 North Dixie Hwy., Bowling Green

After picking your pumpkin, enjoy other activities such as a pumpkin maze, face painting and guessing the weight of a painted pumpkin.

Johnston Fruit Farms

2790 US. 20 Alt., Swanton 

U-Pick crops include berries, flowers, apples and pumpkins. Enjoy free activities such as a sandbox and a petting zoo with a donkey, miniature horse, goats and chickens. Check out the “pumpkin wall” and watch the cider makers at work on the press through the viewing window! The U-Pick season starts early July. 

MacQueen’s Orchards

7605 Garden Rd., Holland

Drive your own vehicle into the orchard to pick apples, choosing from Red Delicious, Golden Delicious, Jonathan, Granny Smith and Ida Red. MacQueens also offers U-Pick pumpkins and hosts the Apple Butter Festival in October, with live entertainment and rides.


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Hoen’s Orchard

12540 County Road 7-2, Delta

Along with the familiar blackberries, raspberries and blueberries, this family farm grows some more unusual U-Pick crops such as gooseberries and currants. In the late summer and fall, choose from pumpkins and more than 20 varieties of apples.