Apple Picking

Apple picking was a blast. I'd imagined us climbing trees like we do when picking sour cherries off Grams' tree. Not so. Most apples can be reached by hand, and they have small ladders for the ones clinging to the top branches.

The orchard was immeasurable and we were only allowed down certain rows. They know precisely when each type of apple is ready to be picked and you can check the schedule beforehand.

Today we could pick Empires, a cross between a McIntosh and a Red delicious. They looked absolutely purple on the trees, but after being properly shined on your jeans, they appear as red and shiny as poisoned apples.

How to properly pick an apple:

Hold the apple by the bottom and twist. The stem is part of the apple and should come off with it. Never pull or tug. The branch isn't part of the apple and you have to pay $5 for every foot of branch you or one of your six kids break.

I'm not sure how many apples you're allowed to eat but it seemed to go something like this: eat, pick, eat, pick, eat, pick...where is Tank and what is he doing under the apple tree?

We paid $23 for a large bag of apples that we could barely carry back to the car. Then we bought apple cider, warm apple cider donuts and 9 apple turnovers for breakfast. From a calorie standpoint we were finished. But Friend had to make her home-made apple sauce to freeze for Thanksgiving. Then she had to make her grandma's Apple Crisp, and we (me, myself and I) had to eat it with a spoon all night long. Delicious.

We had such a fun day talking about apples that Slugger eventually asked, "Don't you guys have apples where you live?" Indeed we do. This tradition of theirs just might need to become our own.