Boehm Farm: Catskills Apple Picking Without the Crowds
Apple picking in the Catskills and Hudson Valley should be an idyllic experience. However, when everyone in the tristate area wants to have that idyllic autumnal experience at the same time, an apple orchard can start feeling like a (pre-pandemic) Times Square. If you want to have an orchard to yourself, we recommend visiting Boehm Farm. On a Thursday afternoon in mid-October, we had the place to ourselves.
I grew up on Long Island, so I’m familiar with the Hamptons apple-picking scene — major crowds, entrance fees, high-priced apples, and signs that prohibit sampling the fruit. I love apple-picking with our cousins and grandparents, but on the Island, it costs $50 for the 4 of us to fill a bag of apples. (The bag can hold up to 20 pounds, but you pay $50 up front, no matter how much you pick.)
At Boehm Farm in Climax, NY? They sell inexpensive paring knives at the farm stand and encourage sampling the apples, you only pay for the apples you pick, and the apples are only $1 per pound. We bought 16 pounds of hand-picked apples, 2 honey nut squashes, an 11-pound pumpkin, a half-gallon of cider, a small cider for Ramona, a small sparkling cider for me, 2 1-pound jars of local honey, 1 jar of farm-made salsa, and 3 delicious cookies for only $58 total.
My favorite color is apple-red against a clear blue sky. My favorite season is fall. And now Boehm Farms is my favorite apple-picking and pumpkin-picking spot.
The pumpkins are set out in a field, so you’re not digging around an actual pumpkin patch. That was okay for us. Note that the 3 people in the background are my husband and children. It was so quiet and pretty.
I’m sad that my kids are growing up in masks, that half their school days are held through computer screens, that we couldn’t bring family or friends upstate with us to share this perfect fall weekend. But I’m so lucky that they love each other and that we found this special farm, which has been growing fine fruit since 1903.
Apple Caramel Cookie at Boehm Farm
And we are all still dreaming of this Apple-Caramel Cookie! Anybody at Boerum Farm want to send me the recipe? I’ve still got 10 pounds of apples to consume!
The Boehm Farm store in Climax, NY
Boehm Farm is located at 233 County Rt 26 in Climax, NY; (518) 731-6196. This is a seasonal, family-run business, so please call ahead for availability. At prime fruit-picking times, they are open 6 days per week (closed on Tuesdays) from 10am to 5pm.
