The best season is the Fall season! There are so many reasons to love Fall including the cooler weather, fewer annoying insects, the beautiful colors of the leaves, fashion and apple picking. Yes, I said apple picking. I recently went to a local orchard in Copetown, Ontario to a place called Myers Apples with my bestie. We relived our youth and joined the family crowds one weekend afternoon. Who knew apple picking was so popular? Not to mention they had some cute barnyard animals that everyone oogled at.

Many moons ago, I remember taking a field trip to an orchard as we learned all about the different varieties of apples. It must have been grade 1 or 2. Red Delicious, MacIntosh, Royal Gala, Honey Crisp, Cortland, and the list goes on. Best of all these are all grown locally! At a young age, I still remember the bumpy wagon ride, led by a team of draft horses that took us out to the orchards.

Pack Some Good Walking Shoes

Many orchards will plant their apple trees row upon row. Make sure to wear comfortable and durable footwear. Sometimes you have to walk through a couple of rows to find the best trees. Also note, there are many apples that fall from the tree and can be hidden under branches or piles of leaves. I almost took myself out more than once tripping on apples that rolled out unexpectedly or were camouflaged on the ground. Having decent footwear will also allow you to climb to the tops of the trees to get those perfect prized pieces of fruit. I can admit, I certainly tried to climb up a couple of trees even though it was advised not too.

Snack Along the Way

At the Bulk Barn, they are really strict about customers not snacking from the communal bins. When you go apple picking, it is almost expected that customers will snack along the way. Left, right and centre, I saw people taking a bit. Orchards must factor this into their operations. It is so hard to resist eating an apple right away. They taste ten times better when it has been picked directly from the tree rather than being transported and handled by who knows how many people before it ends up in your mouth. It isn’t every day that most of us will end up at an orchard.

Delicious Apple Recipes

Besides eating an apple raw from the tree, there are so many scrumptious recipes that can be made with them. After my bestie and I were done picking, we took some fresh apples to her parents house where we ate the most delicious baked apples. Here are some recipes:

• Appe Pie
• Apple Fritters
• Baked Apples
• Candy Apples
• Apple Cider
• Apple Turnovers
• Apple Sauce
• Apple Butter

Where are the Orchards?

Most apple orchards are open until the end of October. They often have other produce available like squash, corn, pumpkins, etc.

Toronto Area

• Applewood Farm
• Pine Farms Orchard
• Orchalaw Farms
• Frootogo
• Dixie Orchards
• Chudleigh’s
• Carluke Orchards
• Myers Apple Farm
• Bennett’s Apple & Cider

Ottawa Area

• Mountain Orchard
• Log Cabin Orchard and Pumpkin Patch
• Cannamore Orchard
• Dekok Family Berry Farm
• Shouldice Farms
• Smyth’s Apple Orchard

Spend some time with friends and family and leave with some fall edible treasures.