Schwallier's Country Basket

Our take

What the record actually confirms

Schwallier’s Country Basket has been family-run since 1989, right in the middle of the Fruit Ridge — the stretch of Kent County that holds one of the densest concentrations of commercial apple orchards in West Michigan. The record puts it at 1185 9 Mile Rd NW in Sparta, with a phone number of 616-785-9896 and a website at schwalliers.com. Unlike several other entries in this file, the hours and variety list here were read directly from the orchard’s own site rather than pieced together from third-party aggregators, which gives this record more weight than most.

Season dates and the weekday catch

The season runs August 17 through October 31, 2026, according to the record — a specific, dated window rather than a vague “early fall” estimate. But there’s a real catch buried in the hours: from August 17 through September 6, Schwallier’s is open Monday through Friday, 7am to 5pm, and closed entirely on Saturdays and Sundays. Full seven-day hours don’t start until September 8, when the schedule shifts to Monday-Friday 7am-6pm and weekends 9am-6pm. The record also notes the farm is closed September 7 for Labor Day itself — a single-day closure sandwiched right at the transition point. Anyone picturing a Labor Day weekend apple run should double-check that date against the calendar before driving out, since the farm is open the Saturday and Sunday of that weekend but shut on the Monday holiday.

The source_note flags one nuance worth passing along honestly: the site itself doesn’t print “2026” next to the posted hours. What makes the researcher confident these are current-season hours anyway is that the stated September 7 closure lines up exactly with Labor Day 2026 — strong circumstantial evidence, but not the same as an explicit date stamp, which is why the record’s formal confirmation field is left null rather than marked as fully verified.

A genuinely long variety list

Ten named varieties show up in the record: Honeycrisp, Ginger Gold, Paula Red, Gala, McIntosh, Empire, Cortland, Jonathan, Jonagold, and Golden Delicious. That spans the ripening calendar pretty thoroughly — Ginger Gold and Paula Red are early-season apples that come in around late August, while Jonagold, Cortland, and Golden Delicious tend to hold on later into fall. Practically, that means someone chasing a specific variety has more flexibility here on timing than at an orchard with only two or three apples listed. The record doesn’t say which varieties are ready on which specific weeks, so calling ahead (616-785-9896) is still the way to confirm what’s actually hanging on the trees on a given visit.

Cider donuts and things to do beyond picking

Cider donuts are confirmed in the record, alongside three listed activities: a corn maze, a play area with rides, and a farm animal barn. That’s a reasonably full slate for a family visit that isn’t only about the apples — kids who lose interest in picking after twenty minutes have somewhere else to go. No pricing was found for any of this, including the u-pick apples themselves, so budget with cash or a card in hand rather than expecting posted per-pound rates.

Where it sits relative to other Fruit Ridge stops

Schwallier’s is part of the tighter Sparta cluster of Fruit Ridge orchards, sitting close to Steffens Orchard Market and Klein Cider Mill & Market — all within a few miles of each other along the 9 to 13 Mile Road grid. Robinette’s Apple Haus & Winery is a short drive south in Grand Rapids for anyone stringing together more than one stop. None of that pairing is anything Schwallier’s advertises itself; it’s simply geography worth knowing if you’re already making the drive to Kent County’s apple country.

Bottom line for planning

Schwallier’s is one of the better-documented entries in this file — real dated hours, a genuine ten-variety list, and a first-party source. The one thing to plan around carefully is the weekday-only stretch before September 8; show up on a Saturday in late August expecting to pick apples and you’ll find a locked gate instead.