Rittman Orchard

An amazing and beautiful farm in Doylestown, Ohio. The property is on a hillside, which provides a gorgeous view of the surrounding area. They have a wonderful market. They have ice cream, cookies, pie, candy, teas, canning supplies and so much more. They are also in the process of opening a cidery and winery on the property. I can’t think of a more stunning place in Ohio to have a winery. This is a superb farm and market.

We didn’t pick fruit here; we just visited the store. Their selection of apples was extensive, and there were plenty of other things — from candy and jam to popcorn and pies. The cashier was nice and accommodating, and there were lots of other people there when we went.

I have now had 3 bad encounters with the owners. I grew up going to Rittman Orchards and had fond memories before we moved back here 5 years ago. First, the layout, buildings, apples, and younger workers are great. I also like to support local businesses and buy fresh fruit and veggies. My experience with the owners is that they are mostly grumpy, rude and not very knowledgeable (despite his education). There are no public restrooms except for a porta john. None of the fruit is organic, so wash it well.
The first bad encounter happened when we went for a hayride in the fall of 2014. The owner hopped on a soapbox and preached to the families, «You can tell Al Gore and other hooligans in Washington that this Global Warming thing is a bunch of nonsense! We lost plenty of stone fruit trees this past winter due to the cold temperatures». My first thoughts were, wow this farmer has no clue what climate change is, he’s getting mixing politics and business, he’s passing around false information about Global Warming and worst of all he’s producing food I eat. I’m going to do something about that last one.
The second negative encounter occurred with the wife in the store. I asked if there were any jams that didn’t have added sugar, pectin or fruit juice. She smirks and says, «what people don’t understand is that those sugars come from fruit and they aren’t bad for you». She was referring to pectin and fruit juice, which are both much higher in sugars (albeit natural sugar) than they are fruit. I get it, she was talking to me in the plural 2^nd person… clever.
Lastly, tonight she made my 5 year old daughter cry by telling her she had to pick-​up the little stuffed animals that she had gotten out of the bin. My daughter and son were actively playing with them at the time. Seriously, don’t put out stuffed animals in a bin if you don’t want kids to play with them. Why don’t you wait to see if they or their parents pick them up before you make a kindergartner cry.
Three strikes and you’re out. I’ll take my kids to Bauman orchards from now on.

Overall: It’s a fun outing that gets the family more in touch nature. It would be 5 stars if the signage to the fields was better.
Selection: 5 stars. Depending on the time of the year, you can pick apples, blueberries, raspberries, blackberries and strawberries (from what I remember).
Customer Service: 3 stars. The people working there were nice enough, but the lower rating is because of the difficulty in finding the right fruit to pick. There are many different fields and it’s confusing to find the one with the correct, ripe fruit. They should provide a printed map and/​or clear signs around the fields.
Prices: 4 stars. It’s affordable depending on how many you pick of course. The self-​pick blueberries are $ 3.45/lb and raspberries are $ 3.55. The store vegetables are relatively expensive but looked great.

Rittman orchards is the best place for apples that taste real! Fruit with flavor!!! Great cookies and pies, and all sorts of fun items

Great apples, great fruit picking AND the fruit is wonderful.
Bring your own container (basket or plastic) (they can weigh your container ahead of time and they will account for that when they weigh your fruit at the end). They are very accommodating.
(I did read the one review where the person was ticked that there were no public restrooms… so yes, that is a negative — but it is an orchard!) (Also, I think their other products (not the fresh fruit) is over-​priced but I don’t go there for their OTHER products.) So I still give it five stars — for the apples and fresh fruit and the ability to pick your own.

The good – This is by and large the most beautiful orchard in the area. The apples are large, plentiful, and easy to pick. We also enjoyed the tractor ride and corn maze.
The bad – The address on their website doesn’t exist in most GPS or maps programs, if you aren’t local and hope to find the place I’d advise you use Rittman as the city.
The ugly – Apparently their customers are a great inconvenience to them. No public bathrooms proved to be a bit of a slap in the face after our difficulties finding the place, especially since we drove an hour and a half to get there. Everywhere you turn both in the shop and on the property there are signs telling you where you can’t go, what you can’t do and what services they don’t provide. It’s a shame that their customers are such a dreadful annoyance.
Large parts of the property are off limits to customers, thus you only have a few varieties of apples to self pick.
Good businesses, including much of their competition, understand that customers are the lifeblood of their livelihood and go out of their way to welcome, accommodate and delight.