Fall harvest is the name of the game where I’m from. If I hopped in my car and drove in any direction, I would run into a family-run “pick your own” farm in a matter of minutes, arguably seconds. The leaves would whistle a familiar tune, accompanied by the crunch and snap of fallen foliage. People from the city would drive all the way out to my small town just to experience the epitome of fall for the day. While the traffic quickly builds into logjams the day trippers gawk at the rolling hills I call home. Decorative cornstalks, pumpkins and autumn foliage act as a welcome sign for the many visitors.
These family-run farms have been the center of tourism for years. That is all with good reason too — there is a sense of magic that happens in each of them. It transforms into the Disney World of fall. Just like Disney, the farms are vast and breathtaking, with different little enclaves dotted throughout the harvest farmland. These farms don’t just grow produce, they grow traditions over many generations. Acres of various types of apple trees including honeycrisp, macoun and gala stretch endlessly towards the rows of pumpkin patches. Hayrides led by tractors pull excited families to dirt pathways where they can leisurely stroll through what seems like miles of apple trees.
The apple orchard is vast, rows upon rows of trees create an array of opportunity as well as flavor. The trees are relatively short, their trunks are quite slim and red orbs freckle the branches. One branch can hold clusters of apples which can total at least 25 apples, if not more. You’ve got to keep your eyes peeled for that perfect prize-winning apple. Once you find that special apple it is almost impossible to pass up the opportunity to take a bite into the crisp, sweet, crunchy apple. Your thoughts wander to the care that must be involved in maintaining these rows and rows of apple trees. It is remarkable to think that these seeds were planted over a hundred years ago.
My personal favorites are honeycrisp apples, and they’re quite a commodity during the autumn season. Some may say they’re worth their weight in gold. Not too sweet, not too bitter and often a swirl of red and yellow. However, my mother and my aunt love the richness of a Macoun apple. Everyone has their favorite type of apple and will debate which ones are the best for a homemade apple pie. By the way, the general consensus is tart apples as opposed to sweet ones. Even the lost apples that fall to the ground get to become a sweet treat for lucky critters, such as the farm goats or a gold mine for the wasps.
On the other side of the farm past the rows of apple trees you can typically find another crop. Its field isn’t composed of trees but vines that tangle and crawl across the dirt. This gourd is distinguishable by its bulbous shape and striking orange color. When my mom and I go pumpkin picking, we always come home with more than you’d expect. That is because we need to find our perfect prize winning (are you detecting a theme here?) pumpkin that would make for a great jack-o-lantern. The pumpkin chosen to be the jack-o-lantern needs to be rounded but slightly flattened at the top and bottom with a sturdy ribbed stalk. Also of importance is the size so there is room for the carving on the front. For the porch stoop we look for a unique pumpkin, and then a smaller pumpkin that I typically will keep inside.
After we guess the weight of our pumpkins and get ready to pay there is one last thing we add to our autumn haul and that is apple cider doughnuts. Back at home my mom and I typically use the apples in a variety of different ways. My favorite way was when she made homemade applesauce. The aroma of the apples cooking fills the kitchen along with the spices ready to be added to the pan. I loved the texture of the apples in homemade applesauce. They still have a bit of a bite to them and she added the perfect amount of cinnamon. After carving the pumpkin we would roast the pumpkin seeds as a nice snack and typically coat them with brown sugar and other spices as well.
Picking apples and pumpkins makes for a fun activity that marks the start of fall.
