Windy Brow Farms

Our take

The short version

Windy Brow Farms, in Fredon Township in Sussex County, is known locally as much for its apple cider donuts as for its orchard itself. What sets this record apart is how candid the farm’s own site is about the state of this year’s crop: it explicitly discusses spring temperature swings and a late freeze, and warns visitors that the pick-your-own apple season is likely to be “very abbreviated” as a result. That’s an unusually direct, self-reported statement from a farm about its own crop trouble, and it’s worth taking at face value when planning a visit.

A farm that’s telling you the truth about a hard year

Rather than staying silent about crop problems the way some orchards do, Windy Brow’s own page walks through what happened this spring in some detail — cold snaps and temperature swings that damaged the developing fruit. The direct consequence, per the farm itself, is a shorter-than-normal window for pick-your-own apples this fall. That’s genuinely useful information: it means the standard fall advice of “go whenever works for your schedule” doesn’t really apply this year at Windy Brow. If picking apples here is a priority, earlier in whatever window does open is likely the safer bet than waiting.

Straightforward pricing, no hidden fees

One thing that hasn’t changed regardless of crop conditions is how picking is priced: a 4-quart, or half-peck, bag costs $15 flat. There’s no separate admission charge, no parking fee, and no per-pound calculation layered on top — you pay for the bag you fill, full stop. That’s a simpler structure than many of the larger, more festival-oriented orchards in this research, which often charge admission on top of whatever fruit you pick.

What’s growing in the upper orchard

The farm’s own site names six varieties associated with its upper orchard: Gala, Greening, Golden Delicious, Honeycrisp, Cortland, and McIntosh. That’s a reasonably wide spread across the season, from Gala’s earlier ripening to Cortland and McIntosh later on. Given the farm’s own warning about the abbreviated season, though, there’s no guarantee all six will actually be available to pick this particular fall — the variety list describes what the orchard grows, not a confirmed 2026 harvest for each one.

What’s missing

No exact 2026 season-start or season-end date was posted on the page read for this record. That’s a genuine gap, but in this case it’s compounded by the farm’s own admission that this season is likely to be shorter than usual — meaning even a normal-year estimate wouldn’t be reliable guidance. The honest answer here is that anyone interested in picking at Windy Brow this fall should check the farm’s site or call ahead close to when they plan to visit, rather than assuming a typical September-through-October window.

Getting there

Windy Brow Farms is at 359 Ridge Rd in Fredon Township, in Sussex County’s Skylands region, near Newton. The coordinates on file are area estimates for the Fredon Township vicinity rather than a geocode of the exact street address.

Bottom line

Windy Brow Farms deserves credit for being unusually candid about a difficult year — a late spring freeze that it says will likely shorten the 2026 pick-your-own season. The cider donuts and simple $15-per-bag pricing remain a draw, but anyone planning a visit specifically to pick apples should treat this as a farm to check in with close to the time of a visit, rather than one to pencil in for a leisurely October afternoon.