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Community Corner

Pick A Good Time in Eckert's Orchards

Eckert's pick-your-own orchards in Belleville has fruit, food and fun for the whole family.

If you’re looking for farm-grown fun this weekend, take a trip to Eckert’s Country Store and Farm where you can pick fruit by the sack full. Late summer and fall are the best time to visit Eckert’s, when the orchards are bursting with peaches (June through August) or apples (September through October). It also grows pick-your-own strawberries, blackberries, pumpkins and Christmas trees. Check the ripening schedule here for a full calendar.

Eckert’s Belleville farm is where Alvin Eckert opened his first roadside stand in 1910. Now it’s the heart of a thriving agritourism business where visitors from the “big city” can bring kids to see where food comes from.

Of course, Eckert’s is more than just a field of crops. You can spend the whole day shopping at its complex of country-themed stores and restaurants. You can pick fruit, shop the garden center for plants, have lunch or dinner, pick up a frozen custard, take a cooking class or shop their grocery store and bakery.

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Eckert’s in Belleville is less than an hour from St. Louis County and 25 minutes from downtown St. Louis.

Half the fun of visiting Eckert’s is the tractor-pulled wagon ride out to the orchards. The driver will drop you off in an area ready for picking and come back for your group after a short time. The fruit trees at Eckert’s are kept fairly short with low-hanging branches for easy picking. Even small children will have no problem finding perfect peaches or apples to pluck from right from the tree.

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Pick your own fruit is sold by the pound, something you need to keep in mind when picking with children. The fruit here tends to be quite large and heavy, and it doesn’t take many to fill up a sack.

Right now, peaches are on sale for 99 cents a pound at the Belleville farm. Pick your own fruit is normally around $1.80 a pound, which is cheaper than most grocery store prices but can add up quickly when the fruit is so fun to pick.

Check the Harvest Hotline at 618-233-0513 for the latest information on fruit availability and pricing. This is extremely important as sometimes Eckert’s is forced to close the orchard due to weather or crop conditions.

The end of August is the end of peach-picking season and the start of apple picking season, so if you plan it right you could pick two kinds of fruit. The store is also full of local produce—some grown right on Eckert’s farms.

Eckert’s is open seven days a week, but for maximum family fun come on Saturday or Sunday from September to October when the children’s activities are in full swing. The Belleville Farm has a half dozen mechanical rides, a bounce house plus camel and pony rides.

You’ll need to purchase $2 tickets for the rides (or 3 for $5) and animal rides are $5 each. The petting area, minigolf and trikes in the play area are free.

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