My family and I love September weekends. We enjoy cheering for the Ohio State Buckeyes, eating all things pumpkin and visiting our local Orchard to pick apples!
One of our favorite local Orchard is Lynd Fruit Farm located about twenty miles east of Columbus. Picking apples at Lynd Fruit Farm has become an annual outing for us.
Over the years, we have learned a secret or two about making the day more enjoyable. First, we check the U-Pick Information before heading out to the Orchard; this will indicate the orchard condition and what is apple variety is available for picking that day.
Most Orchards are listed by searching for orchards within your state or region and most have websites, to provide details about all their activities and schedules.
Second, we get there right when they open. Sometimes we need to bring a sweater and dress in layers but the crowd is minimal and the trees have not yet been picked over. Plus the morning sunlight makes for great pictures.
Lynd provides the bags for picking. They offer the smaller $12 bag for most varieties and $20 for the larger bag that holds about twenty pounds when packed full. We also learned to go with the larger bag since we get more for our money and can fill the bag to the brim!
We love to leisurely stroll through the orchard, deciding the perfect apples to pluck and place in our bag. Usually filling our bag in less than an hour, but depending your family, you can take as little or as much time as desired.
And I must mention that we always find one (or two) good apples we cannot resist eating while we continue to search for those perfect apples.
Once we have picked all the apples that will fit into our bag, we love visiting the Lynd Farm Market for fresh produce, baked goods, jams, salsa, cider and other various items.
This year’s visit, we decided to try the Sugar Free Strawberry Jam and the Pumpkin Butter. {And let it be known one, my kiddo has learned that I am a softy when it comes to saying no to the freshly baked cookies at the Market}.
Depending on the items purchased at the Market and the bag size for apples, a family could spend as little as $12 or as much as $50 or more for an outing to the Orchard.
However, regardless of the money spent or apples eaten, visiting any Apple Orchard and spending time with family, laughing and making memories remain priceless.
