Family-Owned

We’re a family-owned, U-Pick orchard owned and cared for by Lugene and Steve Miller.

Convenient Location

Located near Edwardsville, Glen Carbon, Troy, O’Fallon, and Highland, yet still situated in a rural setting.

Stroller-Friendly

We keep our orchard clean and mowed, so anyone can access any of our 21 varieties of apples with ease.

Lower Branches

Being a younger orchard means having lower branches, so guests of any height can help pick.

Simply Apples, Easily Accessible!

Liberty Apple Orchard is committed to serving our community with an easily accessible, family-friendly experience. We are a U-Pick orchard offering 21 varieties of apples from late August through November. The orchard is well mowed and perfect for photos of your family. There are no “Field Access” or parking fees. Only pay for what you pick at our family-owned orchard! Our U-pick price is the same as last year: $2.45/pound.

Food safety is of foremost importance at Liberty Apple Orchard. In accordance with Good Agricultural Practices, as affirmed by the Food Safety and Modernization Act of 2015, dogs are not allowed in the orchard.

Supporting the Local Economy

Liberty Apple Orchard is owned and cared for by Lugene and Steve Miller.  But we certainly could not do it alone and greatly appreciate the dedication and hard work of the 18 young adults and retired folks who help us maintain the orchard, keep our guests safe, and help them find and carry apples. Our orchard strives to support the local economy by hiring students from local schools or home school groups.  In many cases we are providing local young folks with their first jobs.  We try to assist them as they develop by providing recommendations for college, scholarships, and future jobs.  We are very happy to see many of our employees go on to careers in engineering, finance, accounting, journalism, nursing, plumbing and other professions. In our first 13 years of operation, Liberty Apple Orchard employed more than 80 high school, college and retired folks from the community.  

We also support the regional economy by purchasing products, such as cider, gourmet popcorn, baked goods, and candles for resale from local farms and small businesses, such as 222 Artisan Bakery. 

Serving our Community

One of our objectives is to provide educational opportunities for school and civic groups.  In a typical year we host 650-1050 pre-school and elementary students on field trips to the orchard to learn how apples grow. We also have had the Edwardsville CEO program, consisting of high school seniors, visit the orchard the last four years to learn about growing an orchard and a business.

The orchard has served as a venue to host fund raising events for the American Cancer Society (2022-2025), Friends of Kids with Cancer (2019) and the Hospice of Southern Illinois (2018).  This year’s “Going Gold Kid’s Fest” was held on October 11, 2025. The event included pony rides, a petting zoo, face painting, pumpkin decorating and many other activities. All proceeds benefitted childhood cancer research by the American Cancer Society.

We also strive to serve our community by providing donations of fresh apples to Metro-East and St. Louis area food pantries.  We expaned our partnerships with the St. Louis Area Foodbanck, Operation Food Search and Food Outreach. In our first thirteen years, Liberty Apple Orchard has donated over 120,000 pounds of apples to those in need in our community.

Preserving the Environment

At Liberty Apple Orchard we utilize sustainable practices appropriate for the local ecosystem with apple varieties that fit our environment.  These practices include:

  • Native pollinator habitats and a “butterfly” garden
  • Soil sampling and analysis
  • Drip irrigation around most of the trees
  • Mulch for weed control and water retention
  • Cover crops of turf and clover for the bees
  • Eight hives of honeybees at the orchard
  • Many different varieties of apples for crop diversity
  • Pheromone traps for insect trapping and monitoring & mating disruption
  • Orchard sanitation
  • Disease and insect control using computer models from leading universities.
Learn more about our pest management strategy


We strive to sustain our orchard for the long-term through integrated pest management (IPM).  We think about IPM in five parts:

  1. Orchard environment:  Our orchard is located in an area that receives a great deal of wind which is good for managing insect pests and diseases.  We also have well-water drip irrigation around our trees for dry spells and leave a cover crop of grass and clover around the trees. The slightly rolling contours of our land provide good air and water drainage.
  2. Cultivars:  We grow varieties that were developed for our climate, which can be a bit hot and humid!  These varieties include Goldrush (the Illinois State apple), Enterprise, Liberty, Crimson Crisp, Pixie Crunch and Jonafree.
  3. Pruning:  a natural and organic method to control pests by promoting good air movement and allowing sunlight into the tree.  With our high school and college students, we prune throughout the winter and also do some additional summer pruning to open up the trees to sunlight for apple ripening.
  4. Sanitation:  Our sanitation practices in the orchard include removing bad apples from the trees as well as picking up “drops” on the orchard floor.  While these practices are somewhat unique, we take this extra step to control pests and diseases and provide a more pleasing experience for our guests. We ask our guests to throw any apple cores into the surrounding fields or swale to be eaten by wildlife or decompose naturally.
  5. Protectants:  We use a combination of organic and conventional protectant sprays as needed to control pests, diseases, weeds and wildlife.  We time and target our protectant applications using software programs developed by Cornell University.  We also obtain weekly guidance from plant pathologists and entomologists at Purdue University, Michigan State, Penn State, North Carolina State and the University of Illinois.  We adhere to all EPA requirements, participate in applicator training and hold a license from Illinois to safely apply organic and synthetic products.  Only municipal water is used in applications on our trees, as recommended by the Food Safety and Modernization Act of 2015. 

Limiting our Environmental Footprint

Local apple orchards have an attractive environmental footprint compared with fruit from Washington and more distant orchards.  According to the Department of Horticultural Sciences at Cornell University, apple orchards have several positive environmental impacts:

“An acre of orchard each season fixes about 20 tons of CO2 from the air [and] releases 15 tons of oxygen.”  In contrast to orchards located in Illinois, those in Washington State use extensive piping and pumps for watering 24×7 through the season (all with CO2 impacts from energy, steel, copper and concrete for major dams), controlled atmosphere warehouses for storage (CO2 impact of concrete, steel, and energy for refrigeration), and trucks to transport the produce to markets nearly 2000 miles away (CO2 impact from diesel fuel and steel).  Source: “How Big is the Fruit Growing Footprint,” Center for Sustaining Agriculture and Natural Resources, Washington State University.

Bottom-line: our little orchard sequesters CO2 equivalent to the environmental benefit of 35 houses equipped with solar power.

Closed for the Season
See you in Fall 2026!

Sunday
12:00 pm – 4:30 pm
Monday
Closed
Tuesday
2:00 pm – 5:00 pm
Wednesday
2:00 pm – 5:00 pm
Thursday
2:00 pm – 5:00 pm
Friday
2:00 pm – 5:00 pm
Saturday
9:00 am – 5:00 pm

Liberty Apple Orchard
8308 Kuhn Station Rd.
Edwardsville, IL 62025