Alstede Farms

This is a local farm. It’s family owned and they’ve been successful with their marketing. Their popularity does create some larger crowds on weekends and sometimes those crowds aren’t always comprised of people acting respectfully. As such, there have been some unfair reviews. I wouldn’t fault the farm for the crowds and I hope more family-​owned farms would see large crowds.
As someone who lives in the area, I do appreciate the variety of fresh produce and homemade goods. I’d love to see more competitive pricing, but for now, I see it as an occasional treat that comes with a premium. New Jersey land is expensive and I appreciate the fact there is still some active farmland.
It is more expensive than Walmart. However, you can actually see the land where your food is coming from — that’s worth something. Any produce I’ve picked up from Alstede has been nothing short of delicious. Other farms in the area have great produce too. When it comes to flavor, nothing beats locally grown, fresh produce.
As it’s now winter, I am hoping to find some well-​seasoned firewood from the folks at Alstede. I’m hoping that ¹⁄₃ cord they offer burns well (the Alstede website says they’ll drop it right into my truck).

I belong to there CSA This place is awesome. I’ve never had fruits and Vegetables this good ever. I can’t believe the freshness.
The People at the Farm Store in Chester are so nice.
Loved the butter, fresh bread. The turkeys for Thanks giving and Christmas.

We live in the neighborhood now and find this place to be decent only for city folks who want a farm experience and pick fruits. We ourselves go to other farms in Morris County for buying produce. Alstede has good activities for the kids. Gets really busy on weekends. We find it pricey.

Alstede Farms gave us the quintessential autumn experience during our recent trip to NJ. With two littles ones in tow, we gleefully picked pumpkins, hung out by the petting zoo, enjoyed the changing leaves, and noshed on apple cider donuts. Parking was a bit of a cluster as we were directed to park on what seemed like an unreasonably safe angle. Lots to see and do here. Our kiddos were a little too young to enjoy most of the festivities but I would imagine visiting here with children 3+ would be a blast.

The last time I went apple and pumpkin picking was when I was a young lad. Alstede Farm gave me that opportunity to go pick some fresh apples and at the same time go see some animals at the farm.
If you can somehow get there before 12 pm on a weekday then it is free to get in.
Definitely ride the tractor hay ride to get where you want to go unless you decide you are getting a lot then you need to walk with a cart.
It’s a huge farm. There were tons of apples to pick from and they had different types of apples to pick. They were all fresh. Tasted really juicy. They are $ 1.99 per lb.
For pumpkin picking, there are 3 fields full of pumpkins. All have different shapes, sizes, and colors apparently. I didn’t bring one home because I really didn’t have any use for it.
Animals farms are neat. Got a few animals to look at. I got to feed the donkeys. Boy were they crazy for the carrots I got. I feed one and the rest opens their mouth wide because they want some.
It is a lot of fun to pick apples. I need to come back in the summer, so I can pick some other seasonal fruits like peaches.

I came here mainly to try their apple cider doughnut which I hoped to be a yeast doughnut but disappointingly, it was a cake one. No worries, there are lots to do: corn maze, petting and feeding animal farms, hayride, train ride, pony ride, pumpkin picking and apple picking and so much more. We didn’t do any of those. I only want some warm freshly baked or fried apple cider doughnut made from yeast. They even have a house bounce, burger and fries tent and a store for baked goods. It’s so busy, but the wait isn’t long. Parking is well organized. The place didn’t have that authentic farm atmosphere; a bit commercialized, but worth a visit.

Go early! It becomes a
Zoo but worth the trip if you can go little kids-wouldn’t go here to Apple
Pick if you are without kids-​bouncy castle, pumpkin picking, pony rides, tractor
Rides-​was a fun day!

40 minutes to park, 40 minutes to get out of the parking lot = a very stressful time.
On top of that its super expensive. Entrance fee plus buy your apples, plus, plus.
I don’t mind a high price. But costing me almost 2 hours of my life and my poor kids… just to get in and around, is never worth it. Much better to choose something a bit further from NYC. Many nice smaller places to go. Feel bad for the town of Chester… makes the town not worth visiting with all the traffic.

We’ve been going for years. It’s a great time, the vegetables, apples, and pumpkins are great! However, they recently increased the prices on the weekends and there’s no credit toward your purchase. I understand that they’re growing and think that’s great, but it’s definitely a turn off. Go early to avoid the crowds.

Honestly, it was fun for like a hot second and then disappointment began to ensue.
So as soon as we arrived we were in awe of the grand size of the farm and what seemed like a structured farm environment. But it seemed more commercialized than anything.
We were told to buy a box or a small paper case to pick the apples, berries, peaches and whatnots but when we went in I was surprised to find that all the fuji and honey crisp apple were gone and it was a peak season 3^rd week of September.
Anything and everything you touch basically has an admission fee and it was highly disappointing. Save your money on the unlimited ride package, because the wagon ride is super boring and my 2 and 3 yo kids were bored as soon as they got on it. Just go on the hayride that takes you to the apple trees.
If you go during the weekend, get ready for a big crowd and long lines, but the sign does say if you go during the weekday there is no admission fee, but living 1.5hr away its not easy to make a trip during the week.

Went out here on a last minute decision with friends. When we arrived we had no idea how humongous this place was. We were immediately greeted by an extremely welcoming staff. The personnel couldn’t have been nicer. The prices are a bit steep. You have to pay to get in to pick anything you want apples, pumpkins, peaches, peppers, berries, corn etc a very large variety. But you also upon leaving are met with having to pay for what you picked upon exiting. There are plenty of sign asking you not to eat anything until it’s paid for… it was comical seeing people hiding and devouring things in a matter of seconds. The hay ride is meant to get you close to the various points on the farm so you don’t have to walk too far. But the only hitch is when it’s time to catch a ride back it can prove to be very challenging. We stood for over 45 mins having numerous hay ride carriages pass us by as the employee driver said «all full». It wasn’t until I became extremely agitated and called the number for the farm to complain about the wait time that a supervisor appeared and soon came back with a completely empty cart.
Overall we had a great time. The prices can are a bit high. The wait time for pick up on hay rides was atrocious. The staff was extremely polite. Parking was plentiful.
Truth be told had the hay ride system been more accommodating and reliable it would’ve been a 4 star rating even with the high prices.

We went on a September Tuesday morning (when there is no entrance fee). It was a beautiful day to spend at the farm. We took the hay ride to the raspberry patch — really too far to walk if that is your destination.
Tips: bring your own containers for the larger fruit to avoid having to buy a $ 2.50 box. They also sold $ 0.10 pint boxes for the berries, which was a great investment for our precious pickings.

We have been coming here for years. It was always a treat coming over the summer to pick some strawberries or peaches and then grab some treats from the market area.
There never used to be a PYO admission. All you had to do was pay for what you picked and the price was always reasonable.
We noticed last year that they had added on an admission charge per person to go into the fields. So disappointing. They also jacked up the per lb prices. No longer a fun outing when you’re stressed by the prices.
What a let down. We will definitely not be returning here. There are many BETTER farms in the area. Do yourself a favor and head on over to Ort Farms down the road!!!

I know this place gets packed during busy season, and that experience might be somewhat stressful.
HOWEVER, my 2-​year-​old daughter and I went on a random Friday morning a few weeks ago, and had an absolute blast. She rode the pony (not a single person in line), bounced in the bouncy house (alone!), picked blueberries and raspberries, fed the goats and cows, and climbed the hay-​stack. There were only a handful of other people there, and it was really, really fun.
If you can manage a visit on a spring or summer day when hayride/​pumpkin-​picking/​consumerism isn’t in full swing, you will love it.

We had a fun time at the #peachfestival @alstedefarms in Chester. You can pick peaches, raspberries, blackberries, blueberries & vegetables. Sunflower maze, mountain of hay, hayrides, delicious foods, desserts, wine station & live music too. Very organized & clean. Highly recommend!
TIP: Bring your own bag (s) or cardboard box, because they charge you to pick the food, carry the food & pay for the food.
Update: we just ate some of the Peach Crumb Cake, Peach Granola Cobbler, the fruit we picked & they were absolutely DELICIOUS.

Great place for young kids. Live music in the afternoon. Petting zoo. Sunflower maze. The country store has ice cream and a nursery. Pick your own is a little pricier than average. Definitely worth the drive.
Avoid the bounce house, there’s a big hole in it.

I took my 3 year old here and he had so much fun! He loved feeding the animals, the pony rides, and the bouncy house. We brought our own apples, carrots, and lettuce for the animals, but they have carrots there you can buy and animal feed for purchase. We went strawberry picking and the berries were superb! The doughnuts they have in the shop are amazing and so is the homemade ice cream and fudge. The harvest apple pie was one of the best pies I’ve ever had!
If you arrive before noon, PYO is free. The berries were over $ 3/​pound but worth it. The only thing I’d do differently is I’d do the picking last, after all the other activities. I stupidly put my berries in my car and a lot of them were ruined from the heat in my car, but that was my fault. They still tasted good when I got home.

It’s a money mill people!
I visited over the weekend for Strawberry picking.
First off «Pick your own» or PYO requires an admission fee on the weekends $ 6.99 for adults and children over 2. First off, why should I have to pay to pick my own fruit, then be charged $ 3.49/lb for said fruit. My math stats that if 6 people go and pick one pound each that equates to $ 10.48/lb and that’s crazy expensive, HOWEVER that $ 6.99 includes the hayride to get to the fields where the fruit is grown. And for Strawberries a ride is necessary because those fields are located quite far from the main area where you park your vehicle.
There is a charge for almost everything here, the boxes you use to put your picked fruit in, the $ 3.50 bounce house, and $ 7 pony ride which is run by kids and is an absolute mess (some kids are taken around 3 times while I had to ask them to take mine around once more because they took her around one time… lol) Like really?
These places are disappearing fast and this farm is huge and has lots of variety, I simply don’t get that down home real farm feeling from this place, it seems almost like a small corporation just trying to make as much money as they can. I did see 2 houses on the premises which would be awesome for a BnB and I would gladly stay a night or two if that was an option.
The major Pro in all of this was the wine tasting tent. $ 5 for 5 samples of a wide variety of wine and you get to keep the wine glass as a souvenir, that’s the best deal at the farm! The ice cream is delicious as well, please try it!

The variety of produce that farmer Kurt coaxes out of his land in Chester is fairly amazing. I am a fan of their community supported agriculture (CSA), but beware the tyranny of the CSA! Every week someone else chooses what you’ll be eating that week, and the next week there’s going to be more, so hurry up! This quite frankly can be overwhelming, even with the smallest basket («personal share»), because there’s only so much corn, tomatoes, kale, lettuce, squash, radishes, apples, peaches, berries and other produce you can get thru in a week. And I’m a big fan of vegetables in general! Finally we decided to split with another family so we only get a basket every other week, and that works really well for us. Of course your mileage will vary, if you like to make kale smoothies then you are my idol :-)

What a better way to escape at peaceful beautiful farm! It was a nice scenic 30 miles drive from Newark. As soon as I pull over, I knew we were there for good times. There was plenty of parking. We were group of 12 people including 4 kids.
There are bunch of activities for kids to do there. There’s pony rides and a nice petting zoo, a bounce house and a few other things for the kids. We opted for apple picking and we were lucky as we got bunch of trees full of apples. We went 2 days back and as season is already over so I was kinda skeptical.
We got like 15 pounds of apples, they taste so good. We also did Wine tasting, They do have some good wine. I liked syrah best in all.
We will definitely go back next year for strawberry picking. I am one happy camper after going there :)