Beak & Skiff Apple Orchards has been named the third-best apple orchard in the nation by USA Today’s 10Best. The orchard, based in Central New York’s hilly, pastoral town of Onondaga, was the only New York farm to make the list.
However, Beak & Skiff isn’t new to the yearly ranking of great American orchards. The apple farm was rated America’s No. 1 orchard in 2021, marking its fourth time in six years at the top of the national readers’ choice poll. Gala, McIntosh, Ginger Gold and Paula Red are just a few of the varieties offered from late August through late October.
111 year-old legacy
The seeds for Beak & Skiff were planted in 1911 when an onion farmer and a dairy farmer met at a market and decided to plant an orchard on an idyllic Route 20 hillside, according to the orchard’s website. As it grew, the farm navigated droughts and frosts, only to try out agritourism in 1975 by opening a U-pick orchard in an area now called Apple Hill, according to the farm’s website.
Source: newyorkupstate.com