Blue Jay Orchards

About the Farm

Blue Jay Orchards stands as one of Connecticut’s most enduring agricultural traditions. Founded in 1935 by Robert S. Josephy, the orchard began as a humble 50-acre plot blending dairy and vegetable farming with an emerging passion for apples. Over decades, Josephy expanded the land and planted thousands of apple trees, gradually transforming the farm into a beloved local destination. For many years, apples and cider were sold primarily wholesale or from a simple roadside stand — but that all changed in 1985, when Paul and Mary Patterson acquired the orchard and introduced the now-famous Pick Your Own experience.

Under the Patterson family’s stewardship, Blue Jay blossomed into a seasonal hallmark of New England life. Their vision turned the orchard into a community gathering place where families return each fall for cider donuts, pies, pumpkins, and fresh apples plucked from over 8,000 trees. It became Fairfield County’s first pick-your-own apple orchard and, to this day, remains its largest — welcoming as many as 5,000 guests per weekend in peak season. Despite hardships like late-season frosts that wiped out entire crops in 1985 and again in 2004, the Patterson’s commitment never wavered. Paul Patterson’s recent passing was met with an outpouring of condolences, a testament to the deep roots he and Mary laid in the community.

Today, Blue Jay Orchards spans more than 122 acres and continues to be a beacon of tradition, hospitality, and abundance. Generations of visitors — some who came as children, now returning with their grandchildren — find something timeless here: a place where the scent of warm cider fills the air, where the crisp snap of a fresh-picked apple signals the change of season, and where simple pleasures endure. The orchard, lovingly maintained and pruned each winter in anticipation of fall’s bounty, carries forward the spirit of its founders — from Josephy’s quiet vision to the Pattersons’ heartfelt legacy.