Fall is without a doubt my favorite season. I love the smell in the air and the cool evenings. I love raking the leaves and watching the boys enjoy spending a whole afternoon jumping in them. I grew up with a large apple orchard in our back yard and Fall was always a special time of year. I am already thinking of yummy home made apple pies and apple cider. As you have read before, I love the idea of picking your own produce. So just like my previous posts about berries, you can pick your own apples as well. Last year we drove up to Sky Top Orchard in Flat Rock and had the BEST time! I highly recommend going there. It is a family owned orchard and they have been around for 25 years and there are over 25 varieties of apples.
The apples were fabulous as were the apple cider and warm homemade doughnuts prepared in front of your very own eyes. The view here is spectacular, as the name suggests. As an added bonus the leaves had turned colors. We spent an afternoon picking apples and just hanging out, the boys loved every minute of it. There are plenty of activities for the kids. They have live animals, hayrides and nature walks. The drive into the mountains is just incredible at this time of year. This is definitely a must do! Go to their website and check it out. You will want to jump in your car that very moment. They even list recipes for you. Go to www.skytoporchard.com for more information.
There are several apple orchards listed on www.pickyourown.org/nc
I would love to hear any additional recommendations from you Smarties on where you have picked apples and what orchards you recommend. I just might get a little crazy and try to hit a couple of apple orchards this year. While we are at it…if there are any Martha Stewarts out there that want to share any killer apple recipes then please do!
8 comments
love..love that place!
how much does it cost?
To be honest, I can't remember exactly how much it was but I do remember thinking it was a good bit less expensive than buying at the grocery store (and getting far better apples). I think we picked a half barrel. There were different size options. If you run out of steam, you can always buy some that have already been picked by the farm. I felt like we absolutely got our money's worth. We gave some to neighbors and made a few apple pies, etc. I hope that helps.
About how far of a drive is it?
Another GREAT one is altapass apple orchard near Spruce Pines, NC! My in-laws have a vacation home near there and the kids always love going there. Altapass usually has music and you can walk through the orchard, or take a hayride. I can usually get about 2.5 hours of entertainment out of it. Plus yummy cinnamon apple ice cream!!!
Thanks for the recommendation on the last comment! To the previous comment, it takes about 1 hour 45 minutes to get there. It is about 100 miles. The drive is really spectacular though. Well worth the time!
I took my (almost) 5 year old today and we had a fantastic time. It was easy to spend the entire day with the round trip drive, spending time at the Orchard and then a stop in Shelby at a local Corn Maze. The orchard was beautiful. $9 for small baskets and $15 for the large (22 lbs). I was in search for apples specific for applesauce and the staff/family was happy to make recommendations. The homemade (while you wait) maple sugar donuts were ridiculously good I can still taste them and not wanting to share a single bite!I highly recommend a trip to the Orchard and be sure to get there in time for a picnic lunch right on site. PS They have hay-less hayrides, play area, pumpkins, retail area and although I didn't see it, I heard there are petting zoo-type animals. I'd get there next weekend if you can since apply picking season will start to slow down.
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