Aamodt’s Apple Farm in Stillwater seeing boost in business during pandemic

Minnesota’s apple orchards are enjoying a boost, as people look for ways to spend time together outside during the pandemic.

Aamodt’s Apple Farm, a third-generation family farm in Stillwater, said it has seen record numbers of visitors on weekdays this fall.

"There are more people coming, for sure," said owner Chris Aamodt. "What I’ve noticed, the biggest thing, is people are just looking for something to do, especially with the kids, something they feel safe doing."

Aamodt said it seems families are taking breaks from distance learning or remote work to come to the orchard.

The orchard has made changes due to the pandemic, including doing "pick your own apples" Monday through Friday only, instead of on weekends.

"It just got really busy and I thought, you know what, let’s not have pick your own on Saturdays on Sundays. We’re busy anyway. Let’s just have it Monday through Friday to spread out that crowd. And people have actually really enjoyed it," Aamodt said.

Aamodt said they also decided not to include certain attractions at the farm this year, as an extra safety precaution.

"We haven’t done any of the wagon rides. We haven’t done any of the little kiddie train ride things, anything where there’s close social contact," Aamodt said.

Other changes at Aamodt’s include pre-packaging apple pies and bakery goods, and moving some food items outdoors.

"The planning was very interesting," Aamodt said. "You just had to expect the worst and hope for the best and I think we’re finding out our planning really did pay off and things are going really quite smoothly."

Aamodt said they expect to wrap up the apple-picking season by next week, which is about a week or two early. The farm will still open for all other fall festivities through the end of October. Click here for more information.