I was kid sitting matt's neices this summer and wanted to take them to an apple orchard.. I came across Eckers Apple Farm and decided we would go there as the girls were off to school soon and i wanted to take them! If you click the link and go to the website you will see they opened August 21st! Which is exactly why we went on Aug. 21st at approx 10am when they were said to be open... they were open however not for pick your own apples :( I was sad... they let the girls pick their own from one tree, they didnt seem to mind that much which i guess was the idea however i was disappointed.. i felt misled! I explained that the website told a different story and basically the ladies in the store said it didnt matter than i should wait for the sign (picture posted) to read "Pick Your Own Apples" --- i explained we drove at least 45 minutes and it was hardly worth to drive back just to see if the sign said so... jeesh! I guess i should have called.. i guess they should update their website properly!!
anyhoo... sorry for the complaining... i ended up buying a few ginger gold apples which i had wished id bought more after trying them!! they were spendy at $2.00 a lb however they were amazing.. crisp, juicy... all you dream an apple to be.
Last weekend matt's sister in law and i went to an apple orchard in the general area of this one called Fergusons Morningside Orchard. It was HUGE!!!! we walked into a big barn that had apples out to test, jars of pie filling and apple related products, a counter with carmeled apples and some pastries, you could smell the excitement of the early apple season and all its possibilites.
After walking through the shop area you come to a bunch of bins with apples next to some bags hanging with prices a small bag is $10.00 a large bag $19.00 (i believe the lrg to be equivilent to 1/2 bushel) -- we wanted to pick our own instead of grab out of the bins so i picked up the small bag and off we went with a map of the orchard... up the path, around the bend.. and..... its all the way up THAT hill??! no one around to point you in the direction if you appear to be confused and because of the map we set off up the long long long exhausting jaunt of a hill. when we finally reached the sign reading "wealthy" i gasped a sigh of relief and hurried to find a decent tree to pick some apples and get moving! Filled the bag and trekked down the hill. as returning to the bin area i ended up choosing a larger bag and was able to add different types of apples to it. i also purchased a can of cherry pie filling (matt's fav). I havent used the wealthy apples as of yet to tell you how amazing they are... on the other side of the map you would find a chart telling you which apple to use for what... wealthy seemed to be good for baking, pies and sauces. i plan to bake a pie, attempt apple butter that doesnt taste like lemons and maybe research a few more ideas. I did however try the ginger gold apples and they were TERRIBLE! so mushy ... i was discouraged.. the price was only $1.00 a lb and i knew why... i should have paid $2 for the better apples!
do you have any good apple recipes? where is your favorite orchard? what's your favorite apple and why?
No comments:
Post a Comment