Places to pick apples in DeKalb County

With school back in session, pool days behind us and cooler days ahead, apple orchards and u-pick options are opening up for the season in DeKalb County.

Jessica Yaeger, 24, has worked on Yaeger’s Family Farm – which her great uncle David Yaeger opened as a farmers market in 1967 – with her parents, Mark and Mary Yaeger, since childhood.

Yaeger’s Family Farm is owned by Jessica’s dad, but she is the heir apparent to the DeKalb business and thinks “it’s incredible” to be able to continue her family’s legacy at the property.

“We’re really lucky and honored, and we know that,” she said. “We feel lucky everyday that we can keep continuing this tradition and keep the farm going for the next however many years, the next generation. It means a lot to be able to continue doing what we do and be here for the community.”

The Yaegers aren’t the only family in the local family farm and agritainment (agriculture-based entertainment) business. Kevin McArtor’s family has owned and operated Jonamac Orchard since 1984, but he said the apple orchard is the legacy of Col. Stan Johnson of Malta, who served in World War II.

“He moved back home and he wanted to have an apple orchard, so they converted the the barn, a 1930s barn into a home – that’s where my wife and I live now – and he planted the first trees,” McArtor said.

Ten years later, McArtor’s father, a general contractor with budding interest in horticulture, bought the property and named it Jonamac Orchard – after the Johnson and McArtor families.

For the Yaegers, their family farm operates for three seasons of the year. They open in late April with greenhouse season, when bedding plants, hanging baskets and more are sold out of the two green houses on site. Summer is vegetable, or sweet corn, season – depending on who you ask. Then pumpkins, of course, are the prominent symbol of fall at the farm.

“Sweet corn, pumpkins and flowers are really the biggest things that we’re known for,” Jessica Yaeger said. “We have sweet corn season, home-grown vegetables, we bring in fruits, especially from Michigan, different peaches, melons, stuff like that. And then, as we get into early fall, we start to transition into pumpkin season. We have all different sizes, colors, shapes of pumpkins.”

There’s competition in DeKalb County, and beyond, for the money consumers spend on fall activities, and McArtor said Jonamac Orchard separated itself from the crowd by building a cider house. Several kinds of hard ciders, wines and ales are available at Jonamac Orchard’s Cider House.

“I love the hopped hard cider,” McArtor said. “It’s hard cider with some hops. I’m kind of an IPA [India Pale Ale], I kind of like the craft beers, so this one hits the spot for me.”

To help plan your next family outing, here’s what you need to know for your own local fun:

Jonamac Orchard, 19412 Shabbona Road, Malta, opened Aug. 23.

Hours are 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Monday through Sunday for families wanting to pick apples. The pumpkin patch opens in mid-September. For information, call 815-825-2158 or visit jonamacorchard.com. The store and bakery is open from 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. daily. The Cider House is open from 11 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., Monday through Friday, and 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday with general admission required. Various family friendly activities abound, including After School Specials that feature a petting zoo, jumping pillow and a corn crib play barn with hayloft slides. The popular Haunted Corn Maze opens on Oct. 6 and runs Friday and Saturday nights in October.

Honey Hill Orchard, 11783 Waterman Road, Waterman, opens for the season Sept. 8.

Hours are 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. daily through Oct. 31. For more information, call 815-264-3337, or visit www.honeyhillorchard.com. Among its offerings: 25 varieties of apples, apple cider and apple cider donuts, honey, caramel apples, fresh pies and a free children’s play area with a farm petting zoo and straw maze. Fridays through Sundays, the orchard offers wagon rides to the apple and pumpkin patches, weather permitting.

Kuipers Family Farm, 1N145 Watson Road, Maple Park, opened Aug. 26; runs through Oct. 31.

Hours are 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday; 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Sunday and Monday, and 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Labor Day and Columbus Day. Holiday shopping runs from Nov. 2 through Nov. 22. For more information, call 815-827-5200 or visit www.kuipersfamilyfarm.com. The orchard offers a variety of u-pick apples, a shop, apple cider, apple cider donuts and more.

Yaeger’s Family Farm, 14643 State Route 38, DeKalb, is open through the last Sunday in October.

The market offers gourds, pumpkins, apples and traditional fall decor, along with flowers, mums and other seasonal varieties. Family friendly weekend activities include hayrides to the pumpkin patch, a play land featuring farm animals and a wood train, ship and castle and a corn maze. Adults can get in on the fun, too, with a Senior Citizen Corn Maze. Large pumpkins become available late September and in October. Caramel apples will featured from late September into October. Squash is available starting early September and Michigan apples are in late September.

For more information, call 815-756-6005 or visit www.yaegersfarmmarket.com.