Garwood Orchards

Our family loves Garwood.
We visited today for Father’s Day for a family trip to pick strawberries, sweet cherries, and raspberries. We have come every year for the last four or so years — and in the fall it’s worth the trip out for apple picking too!
We live in the near chicago-​land area and the trip is a little over an hour for us. Not bad, very manageable to get to go and wander around this massive place. It’s just acres and acres of plants and fruits and veggies growing. We love to see what is «up and coming» as much as we love to pick! We don’t get a whole lot of farm type environment here, so to drive the back ways of a more rural setting to get from the expressway to Garwood is always fun as well.
Pricing is extremely reasonable, they have tractor and horse wagons to shuttle you back and forth from your car to the fields… and if you want from field area to field area too. The staff is very friendly and personable. We love to let our little ones run in the area we’re picking… and watch as the Picky Eater… who HATES all food… eventually pull a raspberry from a plant and pop it into her mouth — — - annnnnnddddd — — - — Smiles and reaches for another!!!
Seriously though, it’s a fantastic family trip, it’s a great resource that’s close enough to Chicago for a day trip so that we can experience something out of our norm…
We love it.

I lived this place! My kids had a great time picking strawberries and the staff was so helpful and friendly. I like that you did not have to pay for the tractor ride to get to the fields and the guy who drove us even gave us tips on where to find the best strawberries! It is so huge and pretty there they have tons of other things besides strawberries I can’t wait to go back for the blueberries when they are in season.

Drove out from Chicago on 10÷18÷15 and had an excellent time while we were there. The drive itself, from Lakeview, took about 90 minutes leaving at 7:30 AM. When we arrived around 9:00 on a Sunday we were almost the only people there. Given reviews of other orchards/​farms nearer the city I was very excited there was no hassle in parking and ZERO line for anything.
You can buy bags for anything you want to pick for $ 0.25 a piece. You are also welcome to bring any bag or box you like. They can zero out scales for you if you really need them to. Given the prices it hardly seems like you’d bother. There are numerous tractor drawn wagons to get you to whatever field you’d like to go. The guys driving were incredibly knowledgeable not only about the fruits/​veggies, but even things like the climatology and how crops were rotated on the farm. Super interesting to listen to.
They still had 4 or 5 varieties of apples and the trees were not picked over at all. This late in the season that is pretty great! We went for Golden Delicious and Pink Lady. The Golden trees were overloaded with apples and were super easy/​fun to pick. The Pink Lady trees also had plenty of apples too :).
They also had a wide array of cabbages, green beans, tomatoes etc. available for picking. We partook in some great tomatoes for this late in the season, ate some fresh and cooked with some right when we got home. They were excellent!
Then the pumpkin patch! None of that ‘here is a pile of pumpkins we picked, you choose from the pile’ (though they do have that down the street at their store. This was a full on pumpkin patch. You could traipse through it and yank your pumpkin right off the vine if you so chose… and I so chose! They even have sweet wagons for you to use to lug back the pumpkins if you don’t want to carry it or use the tractor rides.
I highly recommend if you want to go apple picking you go here. Especially if you have no need of hay rides and kid entertainment.

I LOOOOVE this place. A great time w the family. Amazing donuts and apple or cherry apple cider slushies. The produce from Garwoods is amazing and the shop and bakery has a lot to offer. The U-​pick is a great way to spend a nice day and time with your family. My daughters love an afternoon at Garwoods.

When I suggested we plan an apple picking trip my friend immediately recommended this orchard. She had been here before and told me about the huge variety they have. This place was really great! You could pick anything from apples to peppers to brussel sprouts! I loved walking around the farm picking/​snacking as we made our way around. They have a small store nearby with caramel apples, salsas, and the obligatory apple cider donuts. This place is a great hidden gem.

Love this place. We go every year to pick strawberries, raspberries, apples and pumpkins. And their donuts are soooo good.

Great place to pick apples, brussel sprouts, cabbage and raspberries! Eat and pick. What could be better?
They had music playing when we went yesterday. They have wagons take you out to the areas to pick the apples that you want.
Stop at the store for the apple donuts. But get there early. They go fast. A friend purchased apple cookies. They are delicious! I’ve been coming for 2 years now and it doesn’t disappoint. But if you like honey crisp apples like I do, have to go early October. Otherwise they are gone.

Garwood is by far the best «real» orchard/​farm experience near Chicago. It is a true agribusiness and I definitely recommend. Excellent produce and bakery as well, worth the drive!

Garwood Orchards was very disappointing! And I am bummed out because I was very excited to try this place =(
My family and I took a trip up to Indiana today just to go apple picking here and because of the rainy weather conditions, we called (around 8?) to see if they still had U-​pick, and they said yes as long as there is no lightening or heavy rain. By the time we got there (11ish?) the rain had cleared up and they said there was no U-​Pick. But the rain had stopped and we just came 2 ½ hours to pick apples here! We explained to one of the workers in the store that we had called early this morning and that we understood it as, if it cleared up we could pick.
Yes, that was bad communication on whoever told us that on the phone this morning. But then they gave my mom attitude! We had asked where else they would recommend since now we are out this way, and they said they didn’t know of anywhere. Keep in mind we also purchased apple butter and other products from their store. So why would you not at least help your customers?
Long story short, lose the attitude. Communicate with your staff better and you will have happier customers.
1 star because they had good boysenberry jam.

Just stopped by for my first, and maybe only visit of ’14 for (what else?) their amazing apple cider, the taste of which I have been enamored with since my childhood. The gallon jugs were all filled noticeably short of a full gallon, and upon returning home I immediately noticed it is considerably more watered down than it has tasted before. Maybe they are trying to over compensate for a lousy harvest year? Maybe I came too early in the season? Maybe whoever filled those jugs didn’t know what they were doing? Or maybe they are trying to squeeze every dime from the throngs of deep-​pocketed FIPs who descend like a plague of locusts on Northwest Indiana during the most pleasant months of each year.
Garwood’s is great, I’ve been going there my entire life. My parents took me, and I now take my kids. But the last few years I have noticed it has gone from being a quaint little hidden gem, to something more akin to a tourist trap. During apple season lines can be agonizingly long, parking is a nightmare, and things get picked over pretty quickly, as is to be expected I guess. I’m not begrudging anyone who goes on vacation, or the people who make their livings catering to those who are on vacation, but as a local who’s been going there all my life, it’s just a tad bit disappointing.

The place is definitely great! We go here twice a year.
My kids love it when its berries season. They get to pick the strawberries by themselves.
During the fall, I really love their apples varieties. Love love love the gala apples. Its so sweet! They have tons of pumpkins size. From big to tiny cute pumpkin.
The last time we went here, they have live music near the strawberries. Its pretty entertaining.
The picnic place is HUGE! Plenty of picnic tables. We always bring our own food, but if you happen don’t bring any, they do have corn, hotdog or pumpkin donuts.
Don’t forget to try their gelato stand! My kids won’t leave this place until they get gelato.

This place was pretty good. They have a wide variety of fruits and veggies. I got strawberries and rhubarb here to make a strawberry rhubarb pie and it was great. The service was fantastic. Everyone was very nice and helpful. The prices are a little expensive than some u-​picks I have been too, but overall a very nice experience.

Excellent outing for everyone in the family. Variety of apples, veggies, etc. to pick, plus live music (at least on the weekends I have been there). My family has been here about 6 times and the kids love it and I was happy with the employees (quite helpful) and clean porta-​potties — which if you have children is important.

This place was great. I was looking for somewhere that didn’t charge admission, I could go out and pick produce, and wasn’t too far from Chicago. This was the ticket, a friend told me about it and I had to go. It was perfect, all the staff were helpful and attentive, you could hop on a tractor to get to the fields and pick a crazy assortment of things: apples (honey crisp, etc.), peppers (green, jalapeño, serrano, banana, poblano), tomatillos, tomatoes, pumpkins, and raspberries. Everything was $ 1/​lb. what?! The only thing you have to pay for is the plastic bags or cartons for picking or skip that and bring your own (we will do that next time). I wish there was a place near Chicago like this that I didn’t have to pay to get into that wasn’t an amusement ride children, but a good ol’ fashioned family farm. Plus we stopped at Three Floyd’s on the way back to round out the amazing fall tradition.

This little shop just raises the bar on local farmers markets. I have heard from many of my friends that I need to try a Garwood donut! If you never believe another word that comes out of my mouth you must believe me here. When I say that they have fresh, delicious donuts, I absolutely mean it.
I can’t believe that I have been coming out to LaPorte several time a year since 2007 and have never been here before. I need to have my butt kicked severely for not coming here sooner.
I f you are ever in the general vicinity of LaPorte, Indiana, you MUST look this place up and have a donut and get some fresh apples while you are there. But the donuts… DAMN!!!

Market products are great. Fresh handmade doughnuts and apple cider. Super family friendly and one of the largest and best u-​pick orchards around. Large selection of apples and other u-​pick items. We go there every fall and have so much fun.

Garwood is a great value for the price. Yes, it lacks the ambiance of other orchards, but it makes up for it with plentiful crops for picking at affordable prices. I called the orchard as well as others in the vicinity and they had the lowest price per pound. I also love that they didn’t try to tack on an additional charge to take the tractor as some other orchards do.
And the best bonus, they have pick your own vegetables. I’ve never seen that before and had a blast picking my own peppers.
And best of all. I got two HUGE bags of apples for only $ 22. It was a steal.

My preferred apple orchard come apple picking time. It’s less flashy then some of the other orchards, but that’s fine because they make up for it in delicious apples. Their trees are much taller than other places so I advise bringing a picker, or someone with good shoes that can climb and reach the best apples at the top.
Not only do they have apples, but also a ton of different fruits and vegetables to pick. Remember to check their website to see when your produce of choice is in season. The picking areas are well labeled so you know which type of apple you are grabbing. And the tractor/​horse drawn wagons have stops that are labeled so you don’t have to carry a ton of apples back with you.
The store has all the basics, but the bakery is where I always make a beeline. There is indoor public bathrooms near the bakery– so if you’re a person that likes to avoid portable toliets you will be please (even if you have to wait in line). There is a grill outside where you can get food if you are hungry. I like to go when sweet corn is in season and eat as much as possible.

I’m no farmer by any means but I think when you go to pick something, then a «something» should be there to pick.
I’ve been to Garwood’s before to check out the produce and jarred goodies. Small town place with locals for sure. I felt that it was time to try something new and went raspberry picking. In all my excitement I didn’t realize it would be some hard labor and time till I could enjoy some delicious fresh fruit. There was barely anything to pick but somehow I made it out with two tiny cartons, wait that somehow being that my friend picked those two boxes and I continued to eat them.
The experience was well worth it and I felt the prices were great in comparison to Jewel shopping in Chicago. They have an assortment of honeys and toast spreads, frozen fresh fruit and more. Well worth the sunburn I’d say.

Great family-​run orchard that’s just about an hour from downtown Chicago assuming no traffic.
We went apple picking here on a spotless September Sunday morning. You get your empty containers (bags or boxes) at the front and then a tractor-​driven wagon takes you to the area of the orchard that contains the types of apples (or other pickins) that you desire. (They also have a horse-​driven wagon, I guess so people can pick road apples.) The trees were bursting with fruit. We collected honey crisp, gala, and jonathan apples. They also have raspberries (very labor intensive) and pumpkins (not very labor intensive) and, I think other vegetables as well.
Afterwards you can stop in their farm market down the road where they also have a stand selling burgers and brats and grilled corn on the cob.
Everyone was very friendly, and they all looked alike. There must be LOTS of Garwoods in La Porte County.