Not long after we moved here, I discovered that there is a local orchard where the public can go and pick apples in season. I made a mental note to add this to our 'things to do' after we talked to the woman at the fruit stand about the varieties they grow and when they are available to pick. I was excited to learn that they grow my favourite eating apple, Cox's Orange Pippins, and Mr Candytuft's favourite, Golden Russets.
Like many things these days, the planned trip was postponed until the end of the month and we finally made it there on the last day of public picking. We got directions and headed off to pick Golden Russets.
At first, it seemed like the trees had all been picked over and there wasn't much fruit, but we found that if we walked further along the row of trees, there were still lots of apples.
We soon had quite a collection from these trees, though the upper boughs were laden, as they were completely out of reach (the public can only pick at ground level).
The yellow-gold foliage shimmered in the sunlight.
Sadly, there were no Cox's to pick. It seems that they only have four trees and they were finished. We were directed to the Cortland apple trees, after being informed that they are good for eating and also for baking.
These ruby red apples stood out in sharp contrast to the orange-gold foliage. Many windfalls lay beneath the trees and the air was heady with the aroma of apples.
I don't think that I had ever tried Cortlands before, but they are less crisp than a Cox's and not as tart.
The orchard supplied the little red carts for harvesting, which certainly made the job easier and we quickly filled the bushel baskets.
On the way out of the orchard, we stopped for this photo opportunity. The trees along the drive were dotted with similar characters, including a unicorn but, as the drive was narrow, I didn't have a chance to take any other photos.
Once home, I set to work and baked an apple crumble, which was delicious, as evidenced by the fact that it wasn't around long enough to take a photo!
How lovely... it's fun to visit an orchard in autumn and bring home some goodies! Fun with those little red wagons to help with picking. There used to be an orchard at an agricultural college about an hour from here, and which used to be open to the pubic in September--pick apples, there was a farmer's style market on some weekends... But sadly they stopped being open to the public a couple of years or so back, and there's no place else like it around here. I miss going, and the fun of being surrounded by apples and autumn wrapping around like blanket. Thanks for taking us along, Marie :) ((HUGS))
ReplyDeleteIt was so lovely to go to the orchard to pick apples. I just wish that we hadn’t left it until the end of the season and we might have had a better selection to choose from. Oh well, there is always next year.
DeleteWhat a super thing to do. There's nothing quite so delicious as an apple that you've just picked off the tree yourself. Glorious photos. Bx
ReplyDeleteThank you, Bonny!
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