First Time Apple Picking

4:55 PM Unknown 1 Comments

When I think of New England, at least before I moved here, I imagine the picturesque, snowy winters, the bright, warm colors of Autumn, heavy flannel shirts and knee-high leather boots, hot coffee all year round, vast nature, and Cape Cod. Oh, and I guess the Patriots too, but I try to ignore that fact (Go Cowboys!).

Once I moved here, I found that all of these things to be true. I'm just experiencing my first New England Autumn and it's absolutely stunning. My favorite Fall things would have to be Salted Caramel Mochas, the crisp morning air, the colorful leaves littering our lawn, wearing my flannel for the first time in months, and apple picking!

Honestly, I didn't even think about apple picking when I moved up here, but my roommate, Trish, told me about all the "typical New England things" to do and that was one of them. I didn't really have an idea of what apple picking would be like. I just imagined what you might see in the movies - a large orchard with hundreds of trees all in a row. It wasn't exactly like that.

But almost. The ground was uneven and soft from a recent rain. The trees were all different sizes and shapes. There were bad and half eaten apples littering the grounds, so you had to watch where you stepped. Some apples were teeny tiny and some larger than normal. There was a small store outside the orchard, where the farm would sell their goods, including homemade breads, jams, and honey.

We wandered up and down the rows of lush trees, labeled with a plastic tag for the different varieties of apples. We picked apples, laughing, looking at the cute dogs some owners brought with them, and eating a few apples along the way.

I mostly watched and wandered first, inspecting the apples before we dropped them in the bag and enjoying being outdoors. Sometimes I find myself a little moonstruck at new things, especially nature, and feel the need to soak it all in first. After a bit, I started picking apples. Trish and Sweets poked fun at me for picking the tiniest or "Leigh-sized" apples. This is a picture of the largest and smallest apples picked. The smallest no doubt picked by me.