Dixie Orchards — Attraction in Caledon

This is a beautiful, large apple orchard, with a few varieties of apples. It is a great place for children as there are farm animals, a maze, a pumpkin patch, a sunflower field, and the orchard store, selling delicious pies, maple syrup, honey, jams, and other handmade products. There are tractor-wagons for those who do not want to walk through the fields. In short, at the first glance it appears to be the perfect place for a family to spend their day.

However, during my recent visit, I was very disappointed by their new policies to not allow people with medium or large handbags. The problem with this is that visitors are not allowed to carry their belongings, including water. When I asked why this change in their policy, assuming it was for safety reasons, I was told that it was to stop people stealing apples. I spent $22.50 purchasing a 2 litre paper bag to fill up with apples which I had to pick up myself (while I could have bought these apples from any supermarket for half the price) some of which were clearly damaged by hazel/frost, additionally to entrance fees. I felt disrespected and insulted, after spending all this money to pick up apples myself, and to be accused for intent to stealing apples. I complied with their policies and left my bag under their supervision, carrying my wallet, phone and small water bottle in a small plastic bag with a string that was provided by the staff. However, after a while I noticed that there were quite a few visitors allowed with their medium or large bags inside the orchard. I felt treated differently, singled out, and treated with suspicion, probably because of my foreign English accent. I was asked for my name, although the owner declined to share her name (introduced herself as “the owner”), to be told that their staff are mostly teenagers; I don’t see the relevance of this explanation as to why they wouldn’t allow me inside with my handbag.

I have visited Dixie Orchards since 2013 every year, where I observed the ticket prices being raised annually, the apple bag prices being raised annually while the bag volume has been shrinking, and complied with their inflated prices and revised policies because I believe that a day at the orchard is a great educational experience for my young son. However, being treated with suspicion while paying full price for a declining service, and being treated differently from others is something that will make look for another apple farm to visit in the future.

I would recommend to the lady Owner of Dixie Orchards that she should: a) ensure that a better customer experience is provided to visitors, as there are other orchards nearby, b) think more highly of her staff as they were visibly understaffed and overwhelmed by the crowds of visitors c) introduce apple stealing detecting mechanisms or processes, such as searching visitor bags for apples, or more staff near the apple trees to monitor apple consumption...

We have been to Dixie Orchards many times in the past and we were very surprised and disappointed by the changes that have been made this year. To premise this, these complaints were made by multiple people this year in the reviews so this is not just a one-off.

I arrived with my 3-month old in a body carrier and a very small insulated backpack containing only the necessary items to take care of my baby (milk, bottles, diapers, wipes, and medication). The bag was completely full with these items with no room for “stolen apples.” We were informed that the bag was not allowed in the orchard and we would either have to empty all of these items into a stroller and roll the stroller throughout the whole orchard (which is not stroller-friendly by the way) or put all of these items in a plastic bag and carry them around in addition to carrying the bags of apples we were planning on paying for.

I was informed by the so-called supervisor that even though we were willing to have her look through our bag on the way in and on the way out and show her that it was too full to fit any apples, their policy could not be bent to accommodate the needs of an infant to ensure her milk would be available to her at the required temperature and required time. We specifically packed a small bag to accommodate their policy and we were met by a condescending, power-hungry, rude individual who had no sympathy for family who needed to bring along a few items to make their afternoon apple picking possible.

I thought this orchard was supposed to be family-friendly and accommodating to families with different needs. Instead, I have found that not only are they not accommodating and in fact rude, they are more concerned about a few stolen apples than the comfort of their guests. We are already paying an entrance fee plus a large fee for the tiniest bag of apples. This “family-run” farm is more concerned with their bottom line, further shown by the ridiculous commercializing of a wholesome activity (multiple food trucks, loud music, etc.).

I would advise others to support other family-owned orchards who actually treat their guests with respect and dignity and as part of the family rather than this orchard who is clearly more interested in saving a buck or two in stolen apples from the 1% of people who would actually do that instead of providing reasonable accommodations for families with infants.

One other thing to mention, if you’re looking to potentially come to Dixie Orchards, look at the way they respond to some of the negative feedback on here. This will indicate the type of people who are running this establishment and you will see that they truly do not have respect...

I really enjoyed myself at Dixie Orchards yesterday! My initial plan was to visit last year. However, due to professional commitments, I postponed my trip. This year, I made sure to visit for one reason alone: hazelnut picking. There are not many farms in and around Toronto that offer such a unique experience. It is the farm’s hidden gem. Not many people know about it, and I thought to share my experience.

At the hazelnut picking area, I was greeted by Paul, a friendly staff member with real-time farming experience. Paul shared some great insights into identifying ripe hazelnuts. For instance, if the hazelnut rolls out of the husk with ease, it is ready for picking. There are a couple of ways to harvest, first, you could gently shake the hazelnut tree and collect the fallen husks, second, you could pick the husks directly from branches, and third, which is the professional method of harvesting, use a vacuum harvester!

I thought this was a fantastic activity for kids. For toddlers not able to reach high branches, shaking trees and watching the hazelnuts drop makes the experience so much fun! Picking hazelnuts is super easy, too! Just remove the husk from the branch and let the hazelnut roll into your palm. However, you have to be careful about the hazelnuts rolling too quickly. If you are not quick enough, the hazelnuts can hit the ground and be difficult to find.

The best time to visit the farm is during the early stages of harvest, around late September-early October in the GTA. There were plenty of hazelnuts on the trees ready to be picked. I felt this was a good time of the year for a visit. It coincided with pumpkin harvesting. Along with hazelnuts, I had a chance to do some pumpkin picking. This made the visit even more amazing!

I feel the farm could take its USP of hazelnut picking even further. Since there is a sizeable section for hazelnuts, the farm could showcase their speciality through delicious goodies like chocolate hazelnut cookies, in-house Nutella spreads, hazelnut tarts, and hazelnut butter at the farm store. This would really enhance visitor experience.

All in all, I had a great time hazelnut picking, either by giving trees a gentle shake or just picking hazelnuts directly from the branches. I picked a small pumpkin, too!

I would definitely recommend Dixie Orchards for...