The
official first day of fall has brought cooler temperatures in addition to a few
colorful leaves and plans of autumn activities in the coming weeks. The last
days of summer saw our good friends at Chunk and KJ’s Adventure tie the knot; I
would say they have a brand new adventure waiting ahead of them! Wishing these
two all the best as husband and wife!
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| Source: sananddiz |
We
couldn’t make the trip up north due to our little Vilis waiting until the very
last minute to make his appearance and instead took a shorter trip, up to Sky Top Orchard. It seems like half of Greenville had the same idea.
A bushel
of Jonagolds and Arkansas Blacks later I found myself swaying with the breeze
at the very top of a tree, reaching for possibly the last Mutsu apple still on
a branch in the whole orchard. While the Jonagolds are crisp, juicy and sweet-tart,
ideal for pies, baked desserts and sauces (and this year they also will do well
for snacking, especially with a tub of caramel on the side), the Mutsus are our
favorites. Large apples, they are good for cider, applesauce, eating and cooking
with, and seem to encompass fall with every crisp bite. The Arkansas Blacks
weren’t completely ripe and so we didn’t pick all too much, but they'll serve well
for baking through the winter. A big thank you to vecmamma Inga for coming with!
I love
looking back on our previous years excursions to Sky Top, as the only years we
missed were during our expatriation to France. This could very well be a
tradition we keep during our time here in Greenville, just as boiling a good
bit of the apples down into sauce has become the norm for the weeks following
our trip.
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| Sky Top 2010, 2012, 2013 and 2014 |
The
boys have been partaking in leaf-themed crafts this last month, and the last
weeks have seen me getting the carrot, radish and beets planted in our garden
beds, but as Lauris emerged with a sweatshirt pulled over his pajamas this
morning, I'd say fall has definitely arrived. Here’s
to chrysanthemums, flint corn, applesauce and cider!
Previous posts: An unexpected detour while apple picking in NC
Definitely a good fall tradition. And it looks like Vilis found the perfect place to nap. :) I'm not a huge fan of apples, as I get tired of them over the winter, but this time of year has me happy about the reappearance of Asian pears. I've not found any place to pick them, so I make do with what Trader Joe's and the farmers market sells.
ReplyDeleteSky Top sells Asian pear, but you can't pick your own, I only just noticed that. I wonder if it;s because they are not grown on site, or if professionals need to do the picking as to not harm the tree/fruit. Maybe they just don't grow in our region?
DeleteI just looked them up on wikipedia - didn't really find out where they grow, but they do bruise easily, which is maybe why farms don't let folk pick them on their own. Also, they have very few vitamins in them. So bummed! I cannot eat just apples all fall and winter!!
DeleteHolden is really missing apple picking and we are trying to find a place to go in Italy, but they don't seem to exist
ReplyDeleteThat's what we saw living in France - apple picking is very much an American tradition it seems, unless you have family orchards. You can go grape picking and make wine? ;)
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