Over the weekend we went to a local orchard to pick raspberries and apples. It was a beautiful day: warm and sunny, but not hot — breezy, but not windy. Autumn is definitely in the air.
First up were the raspberries. They aren’t supposed to reach their peak ripeness until later this week, so we had to hunt for good ones. I think we did pretty good.
My daughter enjoyed picking them until she began to notice Bees! and long grass Scratching Her Legs! In her defense, she doesn’t really like the seedy texture of raspberries, so this was a lot of work for something she wouldn’t eat.
After the berries, we headed over to the apples. Galas are our favorite and they just happened to be the ones ready for picking. Our daughter was much happier once she got her hands on a juicy, sweet treat.
It was hard to resist some of the other trees that were full of unripe fruit. We couldn’t believe they weren’t ready and threw a few into our bag anyway. Woah, were they tart! Lesson learned.
I plan to make some freezer jam with the raspberries. The apples will disappear fast around here, but I hope to at least get one pie made and maybe an apple crisp, too. On our way out we talked about a return trip later in the season, maybe when the pumpkins are ready.
for the locals: We went to Martin’s Hillside Orchard. I follow their updates on facebook. A list of local orchards can be found here.
