Agritourism & Farm Experiences near Faribault, MN

Faribault

Now permanently closed. Bill and Maggie Hein farmed strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, and apples here for more than two decades southeast of Faribault, growing varieties like Honeycrisp, SweeTango, and Zestar and selling pick-your-own fruit each summer. The family retired after a final season, and the land is passing to River Bend Nature Center. Anyone searching for u-pick berries at this Rice County address should plan elsewhere.

Dundas

Auntie Annie's Fields raises meat chickens, laying hens, and a few hogs each year on organic feed and pasture, about 45 minutes south of Minneapolis. Owner Elizabeth O'Sullivan named the farm for her great-aunt Anne. The hens are a slower-growing breed suited to pasture life. Eggs reach Twin Cities homes through TC Farms and turn up as a CSA add-on at nearby Open Hands Farm, plus on the menus at Martha's Eats and Treats and Raven's Nest Cafe.

Dundas

Grace and Paul Silkey run this pick-your-own farm outside Dundas on land their family has held since 1952. Roughly three acres of strawberries lead the season, followed by raspberries, blackberries, blueberries, cherries, and about an acre of apples. They provide containers and offer pre-picked fruit when labor allows. Beyond the farm, their berries reach the Wedge and Linden Hills co-ops and markets in Dundas, Dennison, and Faribault.

Northfield

Cherry Leaf Farm grew an unusual crop for Minnesota: 650 bushes of cold-hardy tart cherries, planted by owner John Porterfield after two years of research into varieties that survive the climate. The farm also offered u-pick raspberries and strawberries at its Decker Avenue site outside Northfield. It has since closed permanently. The cherry bushes were chosen to yield a sweeter tart fruit than standard orchard trees.

Northfield

Bridgewater Produce Farm has grown fruits and vegetables two miles from downtown Northfield for more than 50 years. Fall brings a 6-acre corn maze, billed as the largest south of the river, plus a u-pick pumpkin patch with more than 30 varieties of pumpkins, gourds, and squash, hayrides, yard games, and a corn box.

Fireside Orchard & Gardens grows 27 apple varieties across more than 50 acres east of Northfield on Highway 19, from Honeycrisp and SweeTango to Haralson, Fireside, First Kiss, and Keepsake. Robert Harvey founded the orchard in 1980; the Winfield family bought it in 2022. The retail store sells apples, cheese, and donuts made fresh daily, and the grounds include a rose garden and a picnic gazebo. It's open daily from mid-August through New Year's Eve.

Northfield

Fossum Family Farm raises suri and huacaya alpacas alongside Scottish Highland cattle and Boer goats south of Northfield. The alpaca fleece becomes yarn and finished goods like sweaters and hats, sold through the farm store. Tours and fiber demonstrations show visitors how raw fleece turns into a sweater. A mixed-livestock operation with fiber at its center.

Northfield

This 320th Street address in rural Northfield is home to Little Hill Berry Farm, a certified-organic grower. It sells pre-picked strawberries from August into early October and opens pick-your-own organic raspberries from mid-August through mid-September at $8 a pound. The late strawberry season comes from day-neutral varieties rather than the usual June crop. The farm sits in Rice County, south of the Twin Cities.

Owatonna

The Minnesota Alpaca Expo is an annual show, not a farm, filling the Four Seasons Centre in Owatonna the second weekend of April. Breeders bring more than 500 alpacas to compete in halter and fleece classes, and the event runs education sessions for anyone weighing alpacas as livestock or a business. Open to the public both days.

Northfield

Little Hill Berry Farm is one of the few certified-organic pick-your-own berry farms in Minnesota, on 320th Street West outside Northfield, about 45 minutes south of the Twin Cities. Aaron Wills and Molly McGovern Wills grow blueberries, strawberries, raspberries, and currants. The season opens with a plant sale in May, moves to u-pick blueberries and currants in July, and finishes with pre-picked strawberries and raspberries in August and September.

Webster

Ross Nelson has grown apples here since 1974, running a veteran-owned, pick-your-own orchard with more than 25 varieties across 15 acres in Rice County. The farm adds pumpkin, squash, and gourd fields, a barnyard of animals, weekend wagon rides in September and October, and a kitchen known for its trademarked Apple Dandies. Pre-cut Christmas trees go on sale the day after Thanksgiving.

Webster

Nelson's Apple Farm has grown apples in northern Rice County since 1974, with 25-plus varieties for pick-your-own or pre-picked across 15 acres near Webster. Fall brings three fields of pumpkins, squash, and gourds, a barnyard of animals, weekend wagon rides, and the kitchen's trademarked Apple Dandies. Owner Ross Nelson is an Air Force veteran. The farm also sells pre-cut Christmas trees starting the day after Thanksgiving.

Farmington

Highview Pastures raises grass-fed Angus beef and free-range pasture turkeys and chickens on a small Dakota County operation outside Farmington. No hormones or antibiotics are used, and the farm sells 100% grass-fed beef direct to nearby households. It's the kind of pasture-based setup that trades scale for closer control over how the animals are raised.

Veseli

The Havlicek family began planting apples in 1984 at this Veseli orchard, whose Czech name Veseli Vrsek means Happy Hill. They now grow 23 apple varieties that ripen August through October, offered pick-your-own or pre-picked on weekends without big-orchard crowds. The farm also sells basswood honey, plums, grapes, pumpkins, squash, tomatoes, garlic, and onions, and controls pests with insect traps and a weather monitor rather than heavy spraying.

Waseca

Two acres of organic aronia bushes, roughly 2,000 Viking-variety plants, grow here outside Waseca, planted in 2018. Aronia berries run high in antioxidants but are too astringent to eat raw, so pickers turn them into jam, syrup, juice, tea, and wine. U-pick usually opens in mid-August, when the wide rows make for quick picking. Call 507-461-0768 first, since the schedule shifts each year.

Farmington

Castle Rock Orchard grows more than 1,350 dwarf apple trees on a trellis system across two acres, three miles south of Farmington and Lakeville on Highway 3. Pick-your-own varieties include Zestar, SweeTango, SnowSweet, Chestnut Crab, and Honeycrisp. The farm also sells pumpkins, squash, gourds, cucumbers, and tomatoes, plus homemade apple butter, jams, and preserves. Reach them at (651) 463-7387.

Lakeville

Sixteen apple varieties grow across this 32-acre orchard south of Lakeville, including Honeycrisp, Zestar! and SweeTango, alongside a pick-your-own pumpkin patch. Apple picking, weekend hayrides, a hedge maze and a corn pit are free; a jumping pillow, sunflower field and corn maze carry an admission fee. The shop stocks apples, local honey and baked goods. Planted in 1991, the orchard recently changed hands and reopened with revamped fall activities. Reach them at [email protected].

Montgomery

Scott Wardell planted the first apples on an overgrown pasture here in 1999, and the orchard now runs about 2,000 trees across 12 acres with varieties like Honeycrisp, SweeTango, First Kiss and Haralson. It doubles as a licensed Minnesota farm winery, pouring five hard ciders and six wines. Fall weekends add a six-acre corn maze, two miles of hiking trails, hayrides and live music. Open September and October, about 45 minutes south of the Twin Cities.

Cedar Lake

Thompsons' Hillcrest Orchard, founded in 1996, grows more than 1,800 trees and 13 apple varieties, including Honeycrisp, SweeTango, and First Kiss, along 250th Street East in the Cedar Lake/Elko area of Scott County. Beyond pick-your-own and pre-picked apples, it runs a corn maze and sells pumpkins and gourds plus apple pies, jams, jellies, and caramel apples. It's a family operation south of the Twin Cities.

Webster

Mike and Gretchen Perbix took over this Webster orchard in 2010 and grow 99 apple varieties, from Honeycrisp to Golden Russet and Northern Spy. They press fresh cider on site and run a cidery making nine hard ciders that range from dry to sweet, including a single-varietal Northern Spy and a Cherry Rhubarb Scrumpy. The orchard opens weekends in September and October with apples, baked goods, and cidery and orchard tours.

New Prague

Roman and Fran Barten have run Barten Pumpkins for more than 30 years, about 45 minutes southwest of the Twin Cities in New Prague. The patch grows more than 45 varieties of pumpkins, squash, and gourds, plus broom corn and straw bales for fall decorating. Admission is free, with photo spots, games, and live music on select weekends.

Janesville

The roadside stand opens in late July stocked with sweet corn, potatoes, tomatoes and other summer produce. Come fall, the farm sells pumpkins, gourds, squash, straw bales and corn shocks, and opens a pick-your-own pumpkin patch on weekends from late September through October. A pumpkin cannon and trebuchet fire at 1, 3 and 5 p.m., and kids get a straw house, hay maze and mini ball field. Weekday group visits in October run by appointment. Reach them at 507-779-1370.

West Concord

Broody Hen Farm sells fertile hatching eggs and heritage chicken breeds from West Concord in southern Minnesota. The focus is small-flock poultry: rare and heritage birds bred for hatching rather than commercial egg volume. The farm also hosts farm-to-table gatherings and hands-on visits through the season.

Cannon Falls

Cannon River Winery handcrafts its wine on-site in a former Chevrolet dealership in downtown Cannon Falls, a building on the National Register of Historic Places. The grapes come from more than 9,000 vines across 40 acres in Minnesota's Sogn Valley. The tasting room and kitchen serves sandwiches, flatbreads, and charcuterie, and the winery hosts live music, seasonal festivals, and vineyard weddings. It opened in 2004, midway between St. Paul and Rochester.

Farmington

Brand Farms started as a dairy farm near Farmington when German immigrants Anton and Marie Brand bought the land in 1957, and four generations later Aaron Brand farms it with his father, John. The farm sells free-range eggs year-round and runs a u-pick apple orchard, with a store carrying apples, meats, butter, jams, salsas, and pickled goods. Fall adds hayrides, u-pick pumpkins, apple cider donuts, and school tours.

Waseca

Aronia Berries, LLC grows aronia (chokeberries) near Waseca in south-central Minnesota. Aronia is a hardy native berry raised for juice, jam, and its high antioxidant content, harvested in late summer. A search surfaced no public website, hours, or ordering page, so contact the grower directly about fresh or frozen berry availability.