Russell Orchards

Our take

What the record actually confirms

Russell Orchards sits at 143 Argilla Road in Ipswich, on Massachusetts’s North Shore in Essex County, with a phone number of 978-356-5366. The farm’s own site named a specific opening-weekend variety list — Honeycrisp, Gingergold, Gala, and McIntosh — a genuinely useful detail since it spans early, mid, and classic New England varieties all ready around the same date. Hours are listed as 9am-5pm, and cider donuts are confirmed. Beyond apples, the record describes pick-your-own blackberries, blueberries, and cut flowers depending on the week, plus a working winery on the property.

The opening date, with a caveat

“Apple picking is set to open on Saturday September 5th!” is a direct quote from the farm’s own site, and it’s specific enough to plan around. But as with several other orchards in this research batch, the site’s text didn’t spell out the year next to that date. Because this was read from what appears to be the farm’s current live page, September 5th is treated as a likely 2026 date rather than a stated one — worth a quick confirmation call if the exact date matters to a trip.

A winery-orchard combination

Pairing apple PYO with an active winery and farm store puts Russell Orchards in similar territory to Connecticut’s Holmberg Orchards, which combines picking with a winery and cidery. That combination suggests visitors interested in wine tasting alongside apple picking have a genuine option here, though the record doesn’t specify tasting-room hours, wine varieties, or whether tastings require a separate reservation.

The entry fee is real but unquantified

One of the more specific and honestly-reported gaps in this record: the farm’s own site references an “Entry Fee” through a separate link, but the actual dollar amount wasn’t visible on the page fetched. That’s meaningfully different from orchards with no admission model at all — Russell Orchards evidently does charge to enter, similar to Lookout Farm in Natick, but unlike Lookout Farm’s record, this one can’t even estimate the cost. Anyone budgeting a visit should check the farm’s entry-fee page directly rather than assume either a free visit or a specific price.

A wider PYO menu than most apple orchards

The blackberries, blueberries, and cut-flower PYO options, available depending on the week, give Russell Orchards a broader pick-your-own menu than most of the Massachusetts orchards in this batch, most of which stick to apples with maybe one secondary crop. That variety could make a single trip more versatile, though exact weekly availability for each crop isn’t detailed in the record.

Comparing to other North Shore orchards

Russell Orchards sits in the same North Shore region as Connors Farm in Danvers, but the two records differ in a telling way: Connors Farm confirms it welcomes SNAP/EBT customers and bans dogs outright, while Russell Orchards’ record centers instead on its winery, its wider PYO crop menu, and the unresolved entry fee. Neither record gives a full picture on its own, but together they suggest North Shore orchards vary meaningfully in both cost structure and amenities, making a direct comparison worthwhile for a visitor choosing between the two.

Bottom line

Russell Orchards backs a strong, specifically-named opening-weekend apple lineup with a winery, farm store, and a wider-than-usual PYO menu covering berries and flowers. The unresolved entry-fee amount is the clearest gap here — call 978-356-5366 or check the farm’s entry-fee page before visiting so the trip’s actual cost isn’t a surprise at the gate.