Primarily a Christmas tree farm running a small, weekend-only u-pick apple operation, with an unusually detailed weekend-by-weekend 2026 picking schedule and a candid note about which varieties failed to produce fruit this year.
Lee Peterson Tree Farm is primarily known as a cut-your-own Christmas tree operation, per the research notes, but it also runs a smaller, weekend-only u-pick apple orchard each fall near Becker, about 45 minutes from St. Cloud. What makes this record stand out is the specificity and honesty of the orchard’s own scheduling: a dated, weekend-by-weekend 2026 pick calendar, paired with a candid admission that several expected varieties simply didn’t produce fruit this year.
This is one of the more precisely documented seasons in this entire research batch. The orchard’s own site lists a specific weekend schedule running from August 29-30 through October 10-11, 2026, with hours of 9am to 4pm, and per the record it details which varieties are expected to be ready on each individual weekend. If you’re the kind of visitor who wants to time a trip around a specific apple rather than just showing up during a general season window, this level of detail is genuinely useful and unusually rare among the orchards researched here.
Also unusual: per the source note, the same page that lists the 2026 schedule candidly states that several varieties — Honeycrisp, Ambrosia, Kudos, Liberty, and SnowSweet — did not produce fruit in 2026, attributed to weather. That’s a level of transparency worth appreciating; rather than simply omitting a bad-yield variety from the list without explanation, the farm tells you directly what didn’t work out this year. It also means if you were specifically hoping for Honeycrisp here, this record confirms in advance that it’s not available in 2026.
Despite the weather-related losses, four varieties are confirmed as part of the 2026 lineup: SweeTango, Zestar, Haralson, and McIntosh. That’s still a reasonable spread across the season — Zestar tends to come earliest, with Haralson and McIntosh often holding into the middle-to-late part of the schedule.
The u-pick season runs weekends only within the August 29 through October 11 window. If you need a weekday visit, the record notes it’s available by appointment rather than general walk-in access — worth arranging ahead of time rather than showing up unannounced on a Tuesday expecting the orchard to be open.
It’s worth keeping the farm’s primary identity in mind: Lee Peterson is known first as a Christmas-tree operation, with the apple u-pick as a smaller seasonal addition. That framing may explain both the more limited weekend-only schedule and the direct, practical way the farm communicates about its harvest — this reads like a working farm sharing real operational information rather than a marketing-first fall-festival destination.
No pricing is listed for apples or admission, and no cider mill, cider donuts, or additional activities are confirmed in the record — the activities field is empty, consistent with a farm focused on the picking itself rather than added attractions.
Lee Peterson Tree Farm is located at 59th Street and 149th Avenue SE in Becker, Sherburne County, in Central Minnesota near St. Cloud. Coordinates on file are an approximate area estimate, not individually geocoded.
Lee Peterson Tree Farm offers something genuinely rare in this research: a specific, dated, weekend-by-weekend 2026 picking schedule combined with an honest accounting of which varieties didn’t come through this year. If you want a Christmas-tree farm’s straightforward, low-frills approach applied to fall apple picking, this fits — just plan around the weekend-only window and call ahead (612-423-3441) for a weekday visit.
Confirmed: weekends from August 29-30 through October 10-11, 2026, with a specific variety schedule posted for each weekend. Weekday visits require an appointment.
You're hoping to visit on a weekday without calling ahead — weekday access requires an appointment, per the record.
Weekends only, from August 29-30 through October 10-11, 2026, 9am-4pm, per the orchard's own site — one of the most specifically dated schedules found in this research.
Only by appointment, per the record. There's no general weekday walk-in access during the regular season.
Four are confirmed as available: SweeTango, Zestar, Haralson, and McIntosh. Notably, the same source candidly states that Honeycrisp, Ambrosia, Kudos, Liberty, and SnowSweet did not produce fruit in 2026 due to weather.
Yes — per the research notes, Lee Peterson Tree Farm is primarily known as a cut-your-own Christmas tree farm, with the fall u-pick apple operation as a smaller, weekend-only addition.
August 29 – October 11, 2026. Weekends (Aug 29-Oct 11); weekdays by appointment. Hours: 9am-4pm.
Pricing was not published when we last checked.
Yes — it's a pick-your-own orchard.
SweeTango, Zestar, Haralson, McIntosh — note that what's actually ready to pick changes week to week through the season.
59th Street and 149th Avenue SE, Becker, MN 55308, in Sherburne County. It is one of 2 orchards we track in Central Minnesota / St. Cloud Area.
Map pin is set to the town centre. Navigate to the street address above, not the pin.
leepetersontreefarm.com
Checked September 2026.