The April Freeze Rewrote North Potomac's Fall Farm Saturday. Here's Where the Apples Went

The market at Homestead Farm in Poolesville is stocked with apples this October. They were grown in Pennsylvania. The market also sells Kime's Apple Cider, while the farm's own orchard holds almost nothing. The Allnutt family's website puts it in one line: "Our 2026 apple crop was devastated by a spring freeze."

In Germantown, Butler's Orchard says it more bluntly: "There will be NO FURTHER APPLE PICKING available this year due to crop damage caused by a late frost earlier this year."

For North Potomac, those are the two closest pick-your-own farms, and this year neither one has apples to pick. Apples are still growing in the region. One night in April decided where they ended up, and elevation and variety ended up mattering more than distance. A fall farm Saturday from Travilah Road now works best as two trips. The close-in farms handle pumpkins, raspberries and cider. Apples off the tree take a longer drive to the orchards that got lucky.

The night of April 20

The damage began with a warm March. Mild weather pushed fruit trees to bud and bloom early. Then, overnight on April 20 and 21, temperatures dropped into the mid-20s and stayed there for hours. One Clarksburg grower said the forecast called for a low of 31°F, but neighbors recorded 24°F. That was in upper Montgomery County, close to home. The Delmarva Farmer's report described damage from Pennsylvania down through Virginia and Delaware, to grapes, peaches, strawberries, blueberries and apples.

The statewide numbers came out over the next few weeks. In May, WMAR reported losses of up to 94% of apples and 99% of peaches in parts of Maryland. A Maryland Farm Bureau survey of specialty growers, covered by Maryland Matters, found an average estimated loss of 67.5% across more than 320 acres. The affected counties included Montgomery, Frederick, Howard and Carroll. In June, the U.S. Department of Agriculture approved a disaster declaration for 12 Maryland counties.

Dave Myers, a University of Maryland Extension educator, checked his research rows in Anne Arundel County the morning after the freeze. Almost all of his grapes were gone, along with half his apples and a third of his peaches. "It's probably as bad as it's been any time in 50 years," he told Maryland Today.

Why one hillside kept its apples

Half his apples lost, not all of them. That partial loss explains how this fall works. Chris Walsh, a UMD professor emeritus who has spent nearly five decades in fruit tree production, told Maryland Today, "It's very uneven, and everyone's been hurt." According to Walsh, apples survived or failed mostly by variety. He also said that "most of the growers I know are buying local wholesale fruit to keep their farmstands open." That matches what Homestead is selling this October.

Elevation was the other factor. Catoctin Mountain Orchard in Thurmont says the freeze there hit the low 20s and wiped out a large share of its crop. Its usual pick-your-own fields are on lower ground. One block near the top of the orchard was high enough that the frost missed it, and that block is now where the farm's limited apple picking happens.

Some varieties came through better too. Walsh's MD-TAP1, a yellow apple he developed at UMD, was ripening at the Western Maryland Research and Education Center in Keedysville after the freeze. "I have essentially the only trees on the university farm with a crop," he said.

So the apples that made it are in pockets: on a hilltop, on certain varieties, on certain farms. The table shows how the region's orchards stand this fall.

The close-in Saturday is now pumpkins, raspberries and cider

Take apples off the list and the farms closest to North Potomac still work well. They're simply better for other things this year.

Homestead Farm at 15604 Sugarland Road is open 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., Tuesday through Sunday, and closed Mondays. Shopping the market is free. Going onto the farm costs $4 and includes the animals and pick-your-own pumpkins at 79 cents a pound. Scenic hayrides are included on Saturdays and Sundays only. The farm still invites visitors to walk the orchard and "perhaps find a few" apples, which are charged separately. The market carries Kime's cider, pre-picked Pennsylvania apples, preserves, local honey, the farm's own mums and squash, and late vegetables grown on site. Homestead doesn't allow pets, birthday parties or professional photography, and it doesn't take checks.

Butler's Orchard has had a better year with red raspberries than with apples. Its picking report rates both raspberries and pumpkins "Excellent," and raspberry picking comes with Pumpkin Patch or Pumpkin Festival admission. The 46th annual Pumpkin Festival runs September 19 through November 1, Wednesday through Sunday, and Butler's strongly recommends reserving ahead. The Pumpkin Patch is open Tuesday through Sunday, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.

If the kids want more Halloween closer to home, Montgomery Parks runs its Halloween Eye Spy train rides on Saturdays and Sundays through November 1, from 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., at Cabin John Regional Park, 7400 Tuckerman Lane.

Where the tree-picked apples are

For apples picked straight off the tree, Howard County is the most dependable option this fall. Larriland Farm in Woodbine posted "Apple picking is good" on the evening of October 7. Its orchard is at the Fine Farm, 3125 Florence Road, just around the corner from the main farm at 2415 Woodbine Road. The varieties on the trees are Rosalee and Ruby Rush. Fall field tickets run from Sept. 12 to Nov. 1, and weekday tickets are $3 per person. Larriland updates its report every day and says to check it the morning before a visit. In a year like this one, that matters. Its market also carries Ambrosia and Ruby Rush grown at 78 Acres Farm in northern Maryland.

Catoctin Mountain Orchard is a longer drive with less certainty. The block that escaped the frost is on a steep hillside with uneven ground. The orchard says it is "NOT handicap or stroller friendly" and that getting to and from it takes longer. When the page was checked, the next picking day was listed as TBD, so wait for a posted date before planning around it.

There are a few other options outside Maryland. Stribling Orchard in Markham, Virginia, says it has no fruit on its trees this year but is open Wednesday, October 7 through Monday, October 12, selling pre-picked Virginia apples from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., with the gate closing at 4:30. Great Country Farms closed its apple orchards in a September 21 update and said it expects pick-your-own to reopen in November for later varieties. That reopening isn't confirmed. In Jefferson, Distillery Lane Ciderworks is selling eating apples through Open Book Farm and George's Mill Farm Store this fall, and cider apples by bulk order.

A Saturday built around the freeze

This year the pieces of a fall farm day are in different places, and a plan that accounts for that works better:

1. Check Larriland's harvest report on Saturday morning. If apple picking is still listed as good, Woodbine is the only orchard in this roundup with a confirmed, current report of apples on the trees.
2. Make the close-in stop about pumpkins. Homestead's pick-your-own pumpkins and weekend hayrides, or Butler's pumpkins and raspberries with a festival reservation, keep the drive short for younger kids.
3. Get cider and apples from the market shelf. Homestead sells Kime's cider and Pennsylvania apples with no admission charge, which means homemade apple pie is still on this year.
4. Keep Catoctin as a backup. Plan that trip only after the orchard posts a picking date for its hilltop block.

Pumpkin season at Butler's and Larriland's fall field tickets both end November 1. That leaves three more full weekends to pick something from a field this year.

If this fall's farm reports have you thinking about how far your weekends stretch from home, I'd love to compare notes on the drives that matter most to your family. Reach out to Myah Moxley. Let's Connect.