Apple Picking 2015

With Sukkot being so rainy, we took a chance and went back up to Stepps Hillcrest Orchard in Hendersonville, NC. We were blessed in that the rain held off for most of the day and the clouds kept us from getting too warm. We really liked the apples we got there last year and figured we'd go back for more.

 We weren't disappointed. :) Last year, Sukkot was later in the season, so we got a slightly different selection this year.

 We picked Cameo, Arkansas Black, Granny Smith, Blushing Gold, Fuji, Red Delicious, Golden Delicious, Law Rome,

 There were still a few apple blossoms on the trees.

 This is Cinnamon and Sugar, the neighbor's donkeys. Sadly for them, there were signs asking us not to feed them apples.

 There was no problem finding enough apples.

 Emma couldn't help but two-fist them :)





 Irene had to test every one she could reach.

Quite a haul! Once we got done, we had picked 3 1/2 bushels that we then turned into about 8 gallons of applesauce! That should last us until next year...

It Apple Picking Time! (Plus Nature Study)

We started a new Nature Study unit this month with the coming in of apple picking season. We are using Outdoor Secrets that we got from Simply Charlotte Mason as a curriculum for it. The booklays out simple lessons that only take a few minutes, but really engage the kids in listening to stories or making observations about a topic. The first topic in the book is... Apples! We looked at different varieties of apples, read a couple of books from the library (How Do Apples Grow and Johnny Appleseed), and cut an apple open to see the "blossom" left inside. 

A couple of years ago, we had Olivia study the cherry trees across the street from our house and draw them once per season. Another year, she did the big Dogwood in our back yard. This year, we're going to do an apple tree and the three older kiddos will all participate. We contacted Devil Dog Orchard, which is out on 150 in Rockingham County, and asked if we could come and sit in the orchard and draw the trees.

The kids observed the tree both from a distance and up close. Then they had to write or tell me what they saw.

 Olivia

 

 Gabe

 Ezra

 The folks at DDO went above and beyond, going so far as to pull out the hay wagon and take us on a ride around the property. The kids even got to feed the fish in their pond. :)

After the ride, we spent a little time picking a bucket-full of Gala apples that are just fantastic! 

Apple Picking 2014

With Sukkot already having been so rainy and an imminent threat of severe storms, we gave up camping 2 days early and decided on a whim to drive up to the mountains to go apple picking. We went to our friends' house in Winston for a potluck/birthday party/wedding vow renewal. We figured we were already halfway there, so we found a decent room for $60 in Hickory and spent the night there. After breakfast, we drove the rest of the way to Hendersonville. When we went looking online (literally at 4pm the day before...ha...told you it was last minute and spontaneous) for well reviewed apple picking farms, Stepp's Hillcrest Orchard came up. We were a little late in the season, so it pretty much the tart varieties that we had to choose from. We got some Law Rome, Stayman Winesap, Granny Smith, Pink Lady, Blushing Gold, and Arkansas Black. We picked 3 1/2 bushels and bought another half-bushel of Fuji to round the batch out with some sweet apples. One bushel was for another family that requested them. Our habit is to make applesauce to keep us through the whole year and Rebecca also wants to make apple butter. 

 The first wagonload. Each of those baskets is half a bushel. We wound up filling 7 baskets total.

Of course, the kids ate as many apples as they could while we picked. :)

After apples, we went for a drive up the Blue Ridge Parkway for a bit and saw some beautiful fall colors. Our spontaneous trip turned into great timing for enjoying our favorite season. Sadly, our camera battery was dead that morning, so we had to make due with the dumbphone's camera. And sadly, I (jeremy) got very ill with a severe case of food poisoning on the way home from the mountains. Not fun. I was sick for the good part of a week.

 

We caught site of a waterfall along our route. Glassmine Falls. It was a view from a distance but a pretty cool find since it often is dry and not flowing this time of year.

So far we have eaten quite a few apples, made 34 pints of applesauce, and 7 pints of applebutter with another bushel or so left to go... if Irene doesn't eat them all before we get to them. She can frequently be found just grabbing one from the bags to snack on.

Apple Picking

We took the kids apple picking again this year. It was a blast! It had rained for the 2-3 days prior, so it was a little wet, but we made it through without too much mud. :)

Ezra got the hang of it very quickly

Gabe helped O find the best apples.

Enjoying the harvest

The boys gnawed those apples for quite a while.

There were a couple of tire swings back at the barn for the kids to play on.

Back home, it was time to turn our 17 pounds of apples into applesauce. We gave our peeler/corer quite a workout.

Ezra wanted to try it out, too.

Too bad this isn't a scratch-n-sniff blog!

Picking Apples and Other Fall Fun

Well, we've got a backlog of pictures to share with everyone, so we'll try to get caught up over the next couple of posts.

Back in October, we took a day trip to the Orchard at Altapass, a non-profit apple orchard right on the Blue Ridge Parkway. We got to take a hayride and hear some great stories about the history of the area. We also took the opportunity to pick our own apples, right from the tree! At first we thought it was odd that they charged more for pick-you-own than the bags the had in the shop, but after we ate 3 right from the tree, we realized it was probably just smart business. :)

The apples were delicious and Rebecca and Olivia got to make homemade applesauce and apple butter.


Sadly, the colors weren't very good in the mountains that weekend... It had rained just a day or two before and many of the leaves had been knocked to the ground already. Fortunately, when we got back into the neighborhood, we found the colors here to be absolutely spectacular!