Marburger Orchard, Fredericksburg

We've been going here every summer for over ten years. We love the drive over, and the fruit is exceptional. I'm sorry other reviewers haven't had the best experience, but we've loved it enough to make it a priority every year. I still remember the first bite I took of a Regal variety peach, truly special.

Our family loves the drive up there to pick peaches and strawberries. The staff is always so friendly and helpful, the owner is a great gentleman. The kids love the experience, the last time I went with a group of ladies and like always were treated wonderfully. Can't wait for peaches!

The fruit at this pick your own orchard is delicious and it's location is nice as it is very secluded. However as much as my husband and I enjoyed our fruit, we will never be visiting again. We arrived at the orchard two weeks ago in the middle of the day, it was not super crowded which was nice. However we were expecting to be able to take our baskets and go right out into the fields and start picking. The owner forced us to stand and listen to his speech about how to properly pick fruit and then scolded the us and the other customers about how we will be kicked out if we eat any fruit before paying. Not only that, but we were told we couldn't step between strawberry rows because we would kill the roots of the plants. My husband and I have picked fruit especially strawberries at many other farms and ever have we ever heard such a thing or heard so many rules. During this 20 minute briefing about how not to eat berries before paying for them, I was starting to get chilly because it was a cooler day. I went to step away (only about 10 feet) to go grab my jacket from our vehicle, he stopped the entire briefing and scolded me in front of everything. He said that if I left to get my jacket, I would not be allowed to pick any fruit. To which I said that I was cold and just needed to grab my jacket, he told me to suck it up or leave. I could not believe it, not only was I embarrassed, but I was shocked to have someone speak to me so disrespectfully. This was supposed to be a fun experience but it was not. After the 20 minutes of listening to the owner, we went out to the field to only pick blackberries because we were afraid to pick strawberries because of all of the rules. The owner sent one of his workers to follow us around to make sure we were not eating any berries. I am just shocked that someone can run a buissness and treat people in such a way. I do not know if he has had past experiences with people steeling fruit but everything about our visit was extremely uncalled for and not pleasant.

Berries were good.... after you listened to the mandatory 15 minute speech about not eating any berries before paying for them and a lengthy description of how to pick a berry. It felt like we were being monitored as potential berry thieves the whole time.

Visited several times last year with friends and always the same . Good fruit , RUDE ,sexist , unpleasant owner . Mr Marburger does not have a very high opinion of women or children OR MINORITIES . He went as far as telling a coworker that a child visiting would be blistered raw if it were his . This baby was a toddler and well behaved . His attitude towards women was scary as he lost his patience with several groups , going as far as to tell his field workers to follow them because they don't follow rules and aren't very bright . Then there was him giving his picking instructions slowly, multiple times to a group of attentive women and then snapping at them to listen to him or leave ... they left and he didn't care . He constantly put his employees down and got angry with them for not doing things his way but way more effective and faster. My group waited 45 long minutes so his field workers could pick us some berries and peaches (he insisted ) and in that time I heard enough to never want to deal with this bitter man ever again . He literally talked badly about every woman he came across . Examples, seeing a truck down the road and he claimed it was the Chinese stealing Loquats because Chinese do that all the time . A very stylish black woman proudly serving this country in the United States Airforce , very polite and friendly ? She just had to be a thief and the owner actually had a worker follow her to catch her stealing because apparently Mr Marburger has never met black people and doesn't know they are honest people . After it was reported all she did was take pictures he said " well they usually steal fruit " I wanted to leave but my friends child just had to have those berries . Never again . He was very terse with me and especially after I told him he was very rude . Last straw ? We tipped the field workers 40 dollars for coming back to the field to pick us the fruit , which they picked the biggest freshest fruit there was . 20 dollars for each migrant worker and Mr Marburger took it away from the humiliated men in front of us after encouraging us to tip them before they were finished as they are poor . When asking him if tipping was allowed as he asked us to do it he said yes, retrieved a box and explained they pool it for all the employees for a pizza party maybe some day . This box had reciepts with dates and names going back to 2005 . Some day as in he has never done it and despite being full of 10, 20 and 50 dollar bills ... and 740+ dollars total marked on the outside. At a loss I foolishly asked if they ever got it he said " no , I own the place, give them jobs and can keep this " . Pissed I asked why he encouraged customers to tip the men and off this little man went . This cheap jerk was taking his workers tips adding them up to hundreds of dollars and not ever handing them over knowing full well they were seasonal migrant workers and many never came back .I can only assume that was a fraction of the tips and he kept most .Before he ran and hid I got that 40 dollars right back , told the owner he was a horrible man and we left . Luckily as we drove down the long road to leave and out of view we found the two men at the entrance fixing the gate .My friend ,who spoke fluent spanish asked the men if they ever got tips and the answer was yes ,but not to keep and this was daily . The men went on to explain they had legal work visas and this was their living and the tips help . Enough was said , both men were handed their tips and begged to keep them for themselves. Pretty sad . Shame on you Marburger, you are very rich man and claim you are a devout man of God but treat people so poorly . Stay away if you value all people . Love the owners response that social medial is not reliable . Mr Marburger, yes it is and there are other comments here stating you are an unfriendly man and a creep . Another case ? You constant gawking at young womens chests as reported by your own female employees . And you are indeed very hateful to certain minority groups , blacks anasians