Apple Picking

Just about every fall we make a point to go apple picking, usually during our fall mountain trip. This year we don't have a trip to the mountains planned, however, because we have so much already going on in October and we went to the mountains in July. So, we decided to go to an orchard about an hour from our house today for some apple picking. The rainy weather almost kept us from going, but Brett said the Doppler radar showed no rain in Ramseur, NC, so we decided to give it a go - even though our windshield wipers were on almost the entire trip. When we got to Millstone Creek Orchards, it was foggy, but no rain. We had a really great time picking. The trees were young, so the apples were really easy to reach. Picking apples is so much fun - we could have stayed all afternoon. We ended up with one bushel (about 4o pounds of apples) and one peck (about 10 pounds) of mixed Fuji, Golden Delicious and Granny Smiths. Sounds like a lot, doesn't it! Based on our past consumption, we'll eat them all! They keep well (at least a month in a cool place). Our family can easily eat 4-6 apples a day. Also, we'll make some pies and are going to try canning apple sauce for the first time! Hopefully we'll tackle that tomorrow.

In spite of the hundreds of low-hanging apples, Brett insisted that some of the "best" ones were up high... So, this was how he got them!


...which seems really unnecessary when you look at this picture where my 44" tall child's head is above apple level!

The apples were so dense on the branches that it was actually hard to refrain from picking even more than we did. They were so easy to get to and so beautiful!

The kids loved today's adventure! After picking, we enjoyed hot fresh apple cider and some fun on the tire swing.

If you’ve never been apple picking, I HIGHLY recommend it as a family activity. Nothing says fall like trampling through an orchard with a worn woven basket in your hand and collecting the magnificent fruit of fall. Here’s how we found this orchard: http://www.orangepippin.com/orchards/united-states/north-carolina