School Tours Are Back!
After a rough couple years thanks to Covid, we are happy to announce that the School Tours everyone loves are back!
School Field Trips
Carlson Orchards is pleased each year to host many area school children and teach them about the many value-added processes we are involved with here on the farm. School groups come to the farm and get to experience first hand our farm operations.
We also have a very active packing house where the apples are sorted, sized, bagged and boxed. Food doesn’t just arrive in the store for us to buy. Watching our productions in operation make a lasting and, we think, valuable impression on young minds about the local food source and its economic importance here in the Commonwealth. Of course, for the smaller ones, it’s also fun just to pick apples in the orchard.
Tours on the farm consist of:
- 15 minute lecture on apples, growing conditions, and the equipment use for commercial picking.
- Quick demonstration on the proper way to pick apples and its importance on new growth apples.
- Trip into the orchard for apple picking (1/4 peck per child.)
- Tour of the line operations as they are in productions — packing house and cold storage room.
- Quick refreshing taste of fresh Carlson Orchards Premium Blend apple cider.
To schedule a tour, please call 800-286-3916.
Monday – Friday: 9AM – 5PM
We can make arrangements for special needs children.
“Dear Carlsons –We love your farm and your pumpkins. And we love your hayride it’s the best in the world. We love you. We loved picking your pumpkins. And we loved your apple cider. And we loved your machines. And we loved when we saw the person dump the apples in the white bin. We liked seeing those guys bottle the cider. And we want to do it again. And we’d like to see you again.”
The four year old class at Village Nursery School Harvard, MA
The Important Stuff: Conveniently located off Route 495 and Route 2 in Harvard, MA, the Orchards are 45 minutes due West of Boston and 20 minutes East of Worcester.
Our hours for fruit picking are 9AM – 5PM seven days a week (we are farmers after all) and our retail store is open until 6PM Monday – Friday, and until 5PM Saturday and Sunday.
We gladly accept MasterCard, Visa, American Express and readily accept cash.
For information about what crop is available and when, please visit our Growing Schedule.