Organic farms

Sinking your teeth into a freshly picked McIntosh apple is enough to inspire you to plant an orchard in your back yard. Save yourself the work and head with the kiddies to a pick-your-own organic apple orchard, where you can pull McIntoshes, Red Delicious, Royal Galas, and Braeburns and even highly sought after sweet Honey Crisps off the trees. Bonus: many orchards also sell pumpkins and other assorted squash, which taste great and also make fun seasonal centrepieces or carved decorations, come Halloween. Spend a crisp Saturday morning this month at these local places:

At Organics Family Farms in Markham, you can choose from 20 kinds of apples. Short on time? Pick up some ready-picked fruit and other tasty goodies such as butter tarts and artisan breads. organicsfarm.ca

MacWilliam Farms in Queensville, near Newmarket, offers eight varieties of apples, squash and other assorted produce. macwilliamfarm.ca

Avalon Orchards in Innisfil, just outside of Barrie, boasts a 10,000-tree apple orchard growing a variety of types of apples, some of which are turned into sweet apple cider. avalonorchards.net

Mapleton’s Organic in Moorefield, near Newmarket, focuses on pumpkins. It is also an organic dairy farm. Make a day of it by taking a wagon ride and enjoying pumpkin ice cream. mapletonsorganic.ca

Round the Bend Farm in Kettleby grows tasty organic tomatoes and other produce. Also choose from organic sausage and pork. And while they’re not certified organic, pumpkins are for sale. roundthebendfarm.com

Also practising IPM is Frootogo in Dundas. Come for the delicious apples and stay awhile to let the kids wander through the corn maze, pet a goat or dig in the sandbox. frootogo.com