Apples make your teeth sharper and keep the doctor away and all that, but just a few miles north of Woodstock, they have another effect. Judith Wolff, co-owner of the Country Cabin Orchard and Nursery, says they represent freedom.
A stretch? Well, Wolff and her husband worked in corporate reorganization and acquisition mergers for years. They owned a private company but spent weekends scouring the Chicago suburbs for an apple-picking farm to buy. Each sale fell through — another buyer got to it first, or a gravel pit was about to go up next door. Finally, last fall, the Wolffs found their golden (delicious) apple.
The Country Cabin Orchard, a 140-acre farm in the northwest suburbs, was already stocked with apples and animals when the Wolffs took it over. But they immediately buttressed it with pigs, rams, purebred horses, peacocks and llamas. They added 20,000 new conifer trees, stocked the bakery with jams and ciders and hired a relative to build an apple-storage barn.
And even though Norman Wolff lost a kidney in an auto wreck last March, Judith Wolff says, “I don’t think I ever looked back once.
“My husband and I are approached by people all the time, but we’ll never see another client,” says Wolff, surveying the animals and apple crops from her blue station wagon. “When the public and strangers come up and say `Thank you,’ you know they have a little freedom here.”
But here’s the important question: Are there apples? Last year, most orchard owners agreed, was terrible for the crops.
This year, all the orchards have reported excellent conditions. “Last year, we never had a spring. We went right from cold to 100-degree heat, and apples don’t do well in intense heat,” says David Lundstrom, owner of the family-run Anderson’s Orchard and Winery, in Valparaiso, Ind. “This cool weather right now gives them a nice color. You can’t ask for better weather than this if you’re an apple grower.”
Apple picking
Anderson’s Orchard and Winery, U.S. Hwy. 6, 3 miles east of Ind. Hwy. 49, Valparaiso, Ind.; 219-464-4936. Market open 10 a.m.-6 p.m., seven days; “you pick,” 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays. Usually open through Oct. 19, depending how fast apples are picked. Prices: “you pick,” $10 per bushel; already picked, $13.99. Also wine-tasting.
Bell’s Apple Orchard, Ill. Hwy. 22 a quarter-mile west of U.S. Hwy. 12 near Lake Zurich and Barrington; 847-438-2211. Market open 7 a.m.-6 p.m., seven days; “you pick,” 9 a.m.-5 p.m., seven days. Picking open through October. Price: $28 per bushel. (Bakery with gourmet salsas and darts activities also on the premises.)
Country Cabin Orchard and Nursery, 4820 Alden Rd., 4 miles northwest of Woodstock, 4 miles west of Ill. Hwy. 47; 815-338-3348. Market open 10 a.m.-5 p.m., seven days. Price: 60 cents per pound. Also deer park, animals (including steer, goats, sheep, llamas, horses and peacocks), bakery, wildlife preserve.
County Line Orchard, 200 S. County Line Rd., 1 mile south of U.S. Hwy. 6, Hobart, Ind.; 219-947-4477. Orchard market open 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. seven days a week; “You pick” open 2 to 5:30 p.m. weekdays, 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays. Price: 50 cents per pound. Also retail store, donut shops, make-your-own donuts and cider, crafts, animals, horse-drawn rides on weekends, tractor-drawn rides every day.
Garwood Orchard, 5911 W. County Road 50 South, LaPorte, Ind.; 219-362-4385. Open 8 a.m.-7:30 p.m. daily. “You pick,” 8 a.m.-6 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays. Price: $14 per bushel. Also pumpkins, cider, donuts, jams, jellies, fall squash, Indian corn.
Honey Hill Orchard, on Elm Street 2 miles north of U.S. Hwy. 30 in Waterman; 815-264-7789 or 815-264-3337. Open 9 a.m.-5:30 p.m. Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. Price: 60 cents per pound. Also peaches, raspberries, donuts, pies and cider.
Paddy’s Apple Patch, 15211 St. Patrick’s Rd., about 4 miles northwest of Woodstock; 815-337-0141. 9 a.m.-5 p.m., weekdays. Price: 35 cents per pound. Also cider, donuts, jarred goods.
Quig’s Orchard, 300 S. Ill. Hwy. 83 one-fourth mile west of Midlothian Road, Mundelein; 847-566-4520. Open 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Tuesdays through Sundays. Price: 60 cents per pound, minimum 20 pounds. Hayrides weekends, Halloween haunted house in mid-October, restaurant, bakery.
Wauconda Orchard, 1201 Gossell Rd., Wauconda; 800-362-7753. Open 9 a.m.-5 p.m., seven days. Price: “You pick,” $8 per 10-pound bag, $15 per 20-pound bag. Restaurant open at 7 a.m., donuts, bread, turnovers, pie.
Williams Orchard, 500 East, 1 mile south of the Michigan-Indiana border near LaPorte, Ind.; 219-778-2839. Open 9 a.m.-4 p.m., weekdays only. Price: $8 per half-bushel bag, $7 per Jonathan bag, $8 per red and golden delicious bag.
Ziegler’s Orchard, 32363 N. Bacon Rd., Grayslake, 2 miles west of Hainesville; 847-546-1228. Open 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays. Price: 55 cents per pound with 50 cent per person admission fee.
