When we left the City for Labor Day Weekend, apple picking was high up on my to-do list. After some research online, I found Apple Dave’s. It turned out that they just opened their apple orchards that weekend. Besides that the farm looked cute, a main reason for us to choose them was that we didn’t have to reserve an apple picking timeslot and pay upfront. Instead we drove to Apple Dave’s in the early afternoon, once Rich had finished his hike onto Bear Mountain. Even the drive itself there is scenic. We passed several little towns and even more fields. If you come from the City, the drive takes a little more than an hour.
When we arrived, there was plenty of parking space. At first we just walked around to take everything in. Apple Dave’s doesn’t only have the apple orchards, but there also are a distillery, a winery and a brewery. So for lunch we tried fresh hotdogs and samplers of apple cider and beer. Although dessert, still warm apple cider donuts, definitely was the best.
There are little tables and benches everywhere, making it quite easy to enjoy their products and spend several hours at the farm. There were also a few chickens walking around. We found it particularly funny when a small boy chased them – they were always faster.
Once we had stilled our hunger, we bought a big bag and entered the apple orchard. It was so beautiful. There was one tree heavy with beautiful red apples next to another.
We just walked from tree to tree and plucked an especially good-looking apple every now and then. Our half bushel bag (yes, we had to look this up, too – a bushel, or in German ein Scheffel, is a unit of 36.4 l, so half a bushel is about 18.2 l) filled up very fast. But we also ate one apple each right there because they were so pretty and luscious.
As it was the very start of apple picking season, there was only one variety: Macintosh. Over the course of the next two months, Apple Dave’s will also offer other varieties. So it might even be worse to go there once more. Well, once we have eaten our 18.2 l of Macintosh apples.
What we also liked was that there were only few wasps around. And they mostly stuck to some older apples under the trees. Actually, the trees have been grown so that they are not very tall, but all the big branches reach to the ground. It made the plucking extremely easy.
Once our bag was full, Rich dragged it back to the entrance and we paid $30 for all the apples. A steal for such great apples. Or in other words: When Rich ate one at work the other day, his coworker commented that that apple even sounded crunchier than store-bought apples.
We then left the apples in our car and walked a bit more around Apple Dave’s. Being in the countryside also means that they have plenty of space. There is a little lake people can walk around.
We loved the lake with its views at the farm buildings and all the wild flowers. So charming! That also would be an amazing place for a photo shoot – obviously my fancy DSLR camera had just given up before we had arrived at Apple Dave’s. I really need to have it repaired. Again. At least it is well-insured.
At the end of our visit we had some apple juice. Unfortunately, we forgot to buy some donuts for the way back. So I think we definitely have to go there again. Also, I believe that their country farm store will be filled with much more produce now that fall is properly upon us. It also looked like they might have a Halloween store.
On the way back we stopped in Sugar Loaf, the cutest little artist town, just a few kilometers away from Apple Dave’s. But that is worth another blog post. Anyway, from both places the garage where I always leave the car was only a stone’s throw away. We were soon back in the City – and made apple cake almost immediately.
© janavar