I LOVE fall! It’s pumpkin season, the air is getting a chill in it and the leaves will soon be changing. It’s the best time of the year in my mind. Yeah it means winter is around the corner, but hell we have still harvests, fall fairs and Halloween to look forward to.
The seasons go by so fast and before you know it, you’ve missed apple picking season! I’m glad to say we didn’t this year. Even with all the craziness of our September calendar I managed to fit in apple picking this Sunday morning. We had planned a trip to Athol to Adams Farm to pick up meat, which we were completely out of, today. So what is one more stop? Each trip to Adams takes us past signs for Red Apple Farm in Phillipton, Massachusetts. A 4th generation New England Family Farm is just off Route 2. The farm house and barn were built in the mid-1700′s and encompassed by a stonewall.
We arrived about 9:30 AM. Things were already in full swing. On pulling in attendants directed us to a parking area. Today the farm was hosting the Greater Gardner
Chamber of Commerce 8th Annual Family Fest in the County Barn. Once parked we headed over for apple picking. Something I will tell you is that Red Apple Farm doesn’t take credit/debit cards. Cash is it. This is something Mad Dog and I have to get better about since neither of us carries cash on us very often. Their web site didn’t make this very widely know either, regardless of this little hiccup they do have an ATM machine on hand if you are like us and don’t carry that strange paper stuff with you. We got a 1/2 bushel bag and some animal feed and started off.
The kids, or I should say Mad Dog feed the goats and sheep which are along the path to the orchards. Loki was fascinated by the animals, but just couldn’t bring herself to open her hand and feed them. Lex did better once I helped him out. After we emptied our souvenir cup of feed we marched up the the orchards. I had Lex bring his Lowe’s Build and Grow Earth Day bag to pick apples with, I thought it would make it easier for him to carry his share. He did great. I guess watching Caillou on PBS paid off, since he knew all about picking only apples from the trees since the onces on the ground are yucky. Loki on the other hand didn’t watch enough Caillou to know this. She would make her selections mostly from those browning one found among the trunks of the trees. She did however have a few good selections picked from low branches. Mostly she just ran up and down the rows. Mad Dog carried the bag, picking and weeding out Loki’s bad picks.
Once we were full up, we headed back to have Lex’s bounty weighed. The 1/2 bushel bag was a flat rate, but since I had Lex pick a separate bag we had to pay for those by the pound. Along with apple picking Red Apple Farm hosts hayrides, an amazing Applewood-Grilled BBQ pit, which makes your mouth water. They also had a wonderful fire-pit to warm yourself by, which Loki wanted to poke her stick in. Mad Dog and Lex took the apples back to the car, while Loki and I checked out the Farm Stand.
The Farm Stand alone could keep you busy. They carry Apple Cider, Apple Soda, Assorted Pies, Apple Dumplings, Cider Doughnuts, Homemade Fudge, Apple Cider Slushies, preserves, pumpkins and much, much more. As far as the staff at the farm, they were very friendly and full of smiles. A lot of the staff is young, possible high school students who were all very helpful. Once Mad Dog and Lex joined Loki (very unhappy Loki) and I we poked around the store. We picked up fresh apple cider and mini-pumpkins. With Loki being less then pleasant I finished up our selections with a Cider Doughnut for the kids to share and an apple dumpling for Mad Dog and I.
I highly recommend checking out Red Apple Farm if you’re in their neck of the woods. They have 50 varieties of apples to pick from between August and October,
along with:
Cultivated and Wild Blueberries (July & August)
Raspberries (July & August)
Peaches – 3 varieties (August)
Pears – 3 varieties (September)
Indian Corn (Sept & Oct)
Pumpkins & Gourds (Sept & Oct)
Red Potatoes (Sept & Oct)
Their open from 9AM to 6 PM. On the weekends they have hayrides ($3.75/pp, children under 3 free) and their Fall BBQ. They are also green! Check out their new 15 kw Wind Turbine and 10 kw Solar Panels, which they are very proud of.
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[...] we visited our friends at Red Apple Farm in Phillipton, Massachusetts (for last years visit see: I’m Seeing Red!). With this being our second year picking at Red Apple, we were a little better prepared on all [...]
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