Levering Orchards

"To Pick or Not to Pick..."

Looking for an outdoor activity that is both fun and educational? Then look no further than your local orchard where the public is invited to pick their own fruit. For my family, Levering Orchard in Ararat, Virginia is our personal favorite.

Located just north of the NC/VA state line, Levering Orchard is an easy and beautiful 1-hour drive from Winston-Salem, NC. At Levering, you have your choice of picking up pre-picked fruit from their packing house or head to the fields to pick your own. The pick-your-own price is cheaper and more fun too.

If you're unfamiliar with the layout, you can stop at the packing house and get directions to the orchard entrance. We have yet to pick apples in the Fall, but the cherry fields are north of the packing house and the peaches are just behind it. You'll want to drive up to the cherry fields.

Levering staff will supply you with pails at the orchard entrance, or you can bring your own. We bring smaller buckets so our daughter can carry her own and then we dump them into one of Levering's buckets at the packing house for weighing. Using the smaller buckets will also keep you from going wild and picking more than you'll probably eat and/or want to pay for when your haul is weighed at the packing house.

Orchard staff will have ladders already placed in the trees for the more daring pickers, but climb at your own risk. During our visits, there has always been enough fruit on the lower branches so a climb wasn't necessary.

Parents, this is a great opportunity to show your children where their favorite fruits come from and the work involved to harvest them and bring them to market. Your kids will be having so much fun, they won't even realize they're getting a hands-on education. I love it!

Levering Orchard accepts cash and checks. I think they accept credit/debit cards too, but I'm not sure so call or email first. Levering staff respond to emails, but you may have to wait a few days. If you need an immediate answer to your question, call the packing house or try their automated number for questions about picking dates.