Questing to Raise a Greener Family: The Apple Orchard Trip

Monday, October 8, 2012

The Apple Orchard Trip

Sunday we went to the apple orchard. This year we went to Arrowhead Orchard in Paris. As we were leaving the house, it started to rain, but we decided to tough it out. I hoped that it would stop by the time we got there. No such luck. It was 45 degrees and rainy, the PERFECT weather for an outdoor activity! We were lucky enough to happen to go on their 80th Anniversary Harvest Festival celebration, which was also part of the Stark County Farm Tour. Because it was the farm tour and harvest festival, there were some additional attractions, like the tour of the inside of the apple building where they wash the apples. They were giving out samples of different apple varieties and apple butter and of course, CIDER! There were representatives from Aultman Hospital and someone at a booth with MyPlate info.
Olivia was not having fun, so I took her back to the car, (but not before someone from Arrowhead and a reporter from The Press News took her picture (If you're in SE Stark County, be on the look-out for Miss O in her crowd-pleasing apple hat!)). The big kids and Evan took a hayride through the orchard, where they learned about the 3-legged ladders used to pick the apples, from the trees that are specially bred to not be any taller than 8 feet. They also learned about the bees in the orchard, terrifying to Ellie, but so important to apple pollination.

The kids, or course, loved the play area where there were slides, a hay maze, HUGE hay rolls and a corn maze. It was $5 a person to get in (adults had to pay too) which seemed like a lot for just the play area, but when you factor in the hayride from the car to the activities and the hayride to the orchard (I guess there was also a pick-your-own pumpkin patch too) it wasn't a bad price.

I got a peck of Jonagolds (All, right! WHO WAS IT?!?! I blogged about how awesome Honey Crisp apples are and they were sold out! Stop buying my Honey Crips!!!!!) that I plan to use to make a pie, if I can get it made before my apple monsters eat them all. They've already made a big dent in the bag and it's only been a day! We've almost finished the gallon of cider--so good! Caden got one of those giant pickles and ate almost the entire thing, which made my stomach turn. I like pickles, but those just gross me out!

It was kind of a gross day, but it was a fun fall activity that all 6 of us did together, and I'm glad we went. This, like the pumpkin patch, will become part of our fall family traditions!