Gizdich Ranch

Was very disappointed in this business again. Got there today at 11 AM (weekday, not holiday time) and NO whole baked pies except frozen, no apple, only certain berries. Bought strawberry tarts and they were horrible. Crust was worse than even I (non pie maker) could make. Tough, tasteless and hard. Bought some apple dumplings and am now afraid to try those. No signs saying what they were out of, as well as long lines. This is no way to run such a well rated business. Last time we were there a few years ago they were out of apple pies, too. No return visits planned again.

This is a great place for the family!
1. Strawberry picking? Bring your own box or pay just $ 1.25 to place your picked strawberries in.
2. Pies? So there are many reviews on here suggesting the oillaberry (spelled wrong I’m sure) However, it was too sour. If you’re a tangy kind of person, go for it. The crust was great though, warm and flakey.
We also got the apple dumpling a la mode which was amazing! I would get that again.
3. Costumer service? The people who assist you in the strawberry field are great. The gal helping in the pie area, not so much. She didn’t like her job, you can tell :/​
There is a cute picnic area where the kids can run around and play. I definitely want to come back to pick their other fruits when in season. :)

The best place ever im not sure why people act like this is disney wrold and seem to want to have all the attetion with lies i was here 7 days or so it was 5:08 they close i would understad why they would wanna colse and not have to SERVE ONE SLICE since hours are from 9:00 — 5:00 they were nice enough to even sell customers a pie they couldve just closed doors on the customers inside but they decided not to im so glad and happy with such great customer service recommend to every one who wants to taste fresh pie;)
And for all the negative comment i read its so redicusly stupid like i said the CUSTOMER SERVICE was more then perfect

If you are ever in Watsonville during strawberry season, Gizdich Ranch is the place to be. It’s fun for the whole family. It’s not as easy as it looks. Finding the big, plump, firm, and red strawberries take time. Sometimes they are hiding under the leaves and sometime it looks good like love at first sight. Then when you grab it, it’s like a hot girl but she farts, or breath stank. Not all strawberries are perfect, some looks good until you see the other half rotting. I ended up with about 5 pounds at $ 1.80/lb. Not bad at all. I just get more joy seeing my kids pick them. After picking them strawberries, we headed to the pie shop. Pretty solid pies and there are over 10 different pies to choose from. I recommend bringing some lunch since there are benches outside.

This is the best place to get pie ever. It is a working farm, and the atmosphere is authentic.

I love these pies. However, the customer service during my latest visit was bad. After being in line for a slice of pie for 15+ minutes, I get to the window ask for apple pie, they have no more slices (totally okay since its now 4:45, they close at 5:00) so I ask for other options? The lady at the counter says, they just washed the serving utensils we’re no longer selling by the slice we only have whole pies (meanwhile there are plenty of slices cut up behind the counter). Seriously? Lamest excuse ever… we already washed the utensils so you & the other people in line can’t ask for a slice of pie? I will not be back.

Once you’ve picked your own strawberries at the peak of ripeness you can’t go back. Even the very best organic berries at the farmer’s market can’t compare. It’s spoiled me so bad I only eat that I pick myself at Gizditch now.
Now on to some of the haters:
1. The amazing pies. Yes, they use lard. Lard is not bad for you and it hands down makes the best crust. Anyone who thinks vegetable oil can stand up to lard for baking crust or that vegetable oils are healthier hasn’t eaten good pie and is way behind on the latest research into animal or saturated fats and the relationship to heart disease (hint: there is no relationship, the sugar in the pie and flour is the dangerous part).
2. Rude employees? I’ve probably been going here more times over the last ten years the than haters and I have no idea what they are talking to. It’s a working farm. It’s not Disneyland. If you want everything to run like grocery store then go to grocery store. The employees have been nothing but kind to me.
In fact, one day after picking berries I spontaneously decided to find a horseback riding place for my daughter and her friend (being her birthday and all. I think she was four or five years old at the time). I told my buddy that I bet someone around here knows of a place. I drove up to an old timer, rolled down my window and explained what we wanted to do. He told me about these stables in the hills by the ocean. They aren’t open to the public, but just tell so-​and so I sent you and she’ll hook you up. He gave me her name and a description and off we went. So, his advice was spot on, we got a one hour lesson and even took the horses to the beach.
Yeah…they are so rude and mean at Gizditch.
Oh, and if you like fresh pressed, unfiltered, unpasteurized apple juice, they are the only business still doing that.

–My family including my Wify and my 2 year old daughter had an amazing time here.
–strawberry plucking is amazing fun here.
— would like to come again.

My friends wanted to go strawberry-​picking before May was over, and usually we go to Santa Cruz since it’s less crowded. This time we decided to stop by Watsonville on the way back from whale watching in Moss Landing.
Even though we just had lunch, we decided to treat ourselves to some pie first before getting down to business. Since there was four in our group, we opted to get a whole pie. This is the most bang for your buck as there are about 8 – 10 slices per pie based on how they dole out their slices, and the price of the whole pie is the equivalent of 3 or 3.5 individual slices. Cheaper than Marie Callender’s too.
They were out of their mile high pies by 3pm, and of the selection available, the Double Berry Dutch Apple looked the most freshly baked (they just brought it out) — and it was the prettiest too, with a cutout star in the middle. That, combined with my sister’s aversion to pies made solely out of berries, made the Double Berry Dutch Apple the easy choice. We got a scoop of Ollalie berry ice cream to pair with it.
We ate it on the picnic tables inside since it was overcast. The Berry Dutch Apple surprised me because usually I prefer double-​crusted pies. The crumble on top was very substantial and crunchy, even thicker than the bottom pie crust. Inside, there were plentiful apples and berry bits as part of the filling, but no whole berries, much to my sister’s relief. The fact that it was still warm really made it heavenly. Nothing as tasteless as cold apple pie!
We had the ollalie berry ice cream a la mode. There was a slight confusion with the cashier earlier because I wanted a scoop and since I saw «a la mode» was the only ice cream option on the menu, I asked if we could get it on the side, since we got a whole pie in a box. However, she informed me that they sold the ice cream in pints and scoops, as well — the scoop basically being the same size and price as the a la mode you get on slices. Same difference! That one scoop was plenty to go around for us four. We ate about 6 small slices among us, and had half a pie to take home.
We wandered into the general store afterwards, where they had machines making freeze-​dried strawberries. It tasted the same as those freeze-​dried fruit snack packs you can get from Costco. We bought a couple half gallons of their apple juice, and felt energized enough to go strawberry picking. It was late in the day so most of the strawberries were gone, but I managed to scrape together a pound, which was going for $ 1.80 that day.

They must not care how they are viewed on Unilocal because the staff was very rude. It was like that soup episode of Seinfeld. If they were out of the pie you wanted you were SOL. The sandwich lunch was pretty good for the price though.
We are in Watsonville weekly for the races and honestly I don’t see why it is so popular.

Fabulous pies!!! Get your slice a la mode! Nomomom. Apple juice is also very good!
I really like the two berry. I originally came here for the apple olollie berry but they ran out :(

Love me some apple pie! I live close, so get one every month or so. Sometimes I go for the sweeter Dutch apple. I am not into berries so can’t comment there, although the olali-​apple juice is delicious.
We also buy their cider in 5 gallon carboys for fermenting. Really fun to see how the apples are peeled, cored, sliced, and juiced during harvest season!

Pie gets 5 stars in my book, always. I’ve never had bad pie here. I came once when I was a kid on a field trip, then recently discovered it again when I took up cycling. Gizdich ranch is very accessible by bike in you’re in South County and it’s my GoTo destination when I have no motivation to ride 50 miles. So I ride here, stop mid-​ride for pie, and scoot home.
Recently came for Valentines day and had a slice of Double Berry (not a la mode though) and my boyfriend got Apple Ollaliberry. Both were just to die for. Some outdoor seating available, which is nice in the spring and summer when it’s warm out. Picnic tables also available for lunching. They do have a small deli sandwich setup, but it’s nothing special from what I saw. Bring your lunch and buy some pie!
There’s a little shop to buy apples and other apple ranch related items, candy/​honey/​whatnots.

Great place to buy local strawberries or apples when they are in season. A flat of strawberries is only $ 14!
They also have picnic lunches available. You can sit on the picnic tables and enjoy the peacefulness of the apple orchard and mountain views.
The pies are excellent. I come here regularly just to get a piece of pie as a snack or dessert.
It’s such a neat little ranch. Definitely worth a visit.

Came here with office staff for a quick lunch and a look around. This is a rustic, outdoor setting, so don’t come here on a bad weather day. Seating is outside mostly at covered picnic tables in the dirt so don’t bring fancy shoes or dress clothes. Best to pay by cash but they do accept credit card but the gals working the order counter do not quite have the credit card machine worked out yet. Lunch choices are very limited to sandwiches and basically only turkey, ham, salami, or peanut butter and jelly. They are basically school yard lunches with a bag of chips, an apple, and a cookie; you don’t really come here for the lunch.
Now the pies are what they are known for and they are fabulous. Many different flavors, over the top fresh and prepared with love. After lunch order one or two and take them home. Also, during school year the place is flooded with school children Monday thru Thursday, Friday is really the only day to visit during the week without being part of a massive school field trip.
They also have a general grocer and gift shop. They have tours and some kind of special class you can sign for in advance to learn about pies and other food preparation discussion. If they could better figure out the credit card machine I could easily go 5-​stars even with the school boxed lunch.

Confusing directions — on one side is the ranch, and the other is the farm. The signs strategically guide you to the ranch/​pie side, where we all got a slice of pie — I had the olallieberry with ice cream.
The pickings here are GREAT. Strawberries are so cheap! $ 1.75ish a pound and they’re everywhere. I brought my coworkers here as we drove back to Oakland from a retreat, and it was the perfect way to end the week, though the drive was quite long that day. I think I went home with like ten pounds.

let me take you down
cause i’m going to Strawberry Fields
Gizdich is real
and strawberries what they’re all about
Strawberry Fields forever
picking is easy with eyes closed
neat rows and rows all you see
it’s getting harder to be a picker
but it all works out
it doesn’t costs much to me
let me take you down
cause i’m going to Strawberry Fields
tasting is real
but grazing is frowned upon
Strawberry Fields forever
no one but you in your dedicated row
i mean there must be hundreds high and low
that if you can’t, you know, pick any
but it’s all right
because your group will not do too bad
let me take you down
cause i’m going to Strawberry Fields
their strawberries a steal
and every berry big and sweet
Strawberry Fields forever
always, no sometimes, think it’s me
but you know i know when it’s a dream
i think i know i am a fan
but it’s all wrong
that is as good as it gets
let me take you down
cause i’m going to Strawberry Fields
Gizdich is real
and please do shout their name out loud
Strawberry Fields forever
Strawberry Fields forever
Strawberry Fields forever

Great location for strawberry picking in late June!
Highlights:
–temperate weather
–beautiful clean strawberries at ~$ 1.5/lb
–nice cashiers at the store who gave us apple juice samples
Tips:
— berry picking is across the street from the store
— come before noon to avoid the crowds and get the best berries!
— bring your own bucket so you don’t have to purchase a huge box from them ($ 1.25)
I didn’t get to pick up or try their pie so I’ll have to come back next year for it!

Went strawberry picking here! Lots of fun! Very organised. Free parking and entry! Strawberries were $ 1.75/lb. They provide boxes if you don’t have your own.
The strawberries were amazingly ripe and juicy!
After picking strawberries we went to their bakery and deli which is a couple minutes drive from the strawberry fields. We ordered their dutch apple and ollalie berry pie slices ($ 3.95 a slice or $ 11 for a whole pie). They tasted amazing but a bit on the pricier side even for their awesomeness! $ 1.50 for an icecream scoop. There is also a souvenir and antiques shop next to the deli.
They have a picnic area with benches and tables and (really worn out and dusty) toys for kids.
Overall, a nice place to spend your day. Cash only.

Fun for the whole family! Just a warning — strawberries are heavy fruit. We ended up with over 17 pounds of strawberries in no time. That might also explain why my arms are tried from carrying the tray.
Bring your own containers, or pay $ 1.25 for a large paper tray. Strawberries are $ 1.75 per pound. Lots of ripe juicy ones. You are encouraged to sample, but not graze. I confess I might’ve grazed a little bit.
I didn’t think I would enjoy paying to do the work of migrant workers, but all in all it wasn’t so bad. As long as I don’t have to do this for a living.