I love apple picking. I really do. I remember this one time when my mom took my dad brand new WHITE Acura and took us apple picking. Well it got suck in the mud. Ruh-Roh! Even with a car wash there was still evidence that car was filthy from our muddy shoes. Needless to say that my dad was less than excited when we got home. Ha!
Well, thankfully my recent apple picking trip did not involve any stuck cars or really messy shoes. Instead we had a great time at Mack’s Apples in Londonderry, NH. I had sent out a tweet asking for some suggestions for places to go to that is a quick drive from Boston. Rachel (Baked by Rachel) responded by telling me about the great time she just had at Mack’s Apples. Then she posted a blog post about it and I was hooked.
Outside of the Farm Market, they had wooden bins of pumpkins and squash, as well as pallets of autumnal flowers.
This “Know Your Apples” chart was very helpful. I took a photo of it just so that I could remember which were the best apples to get for baking pies.
The Farm Market is opened a bit earlier than the U-Pick fields so we wandered around the store looking at all the different books, plates, jams, fruit butters, pickles, and decorations that were available for purchase.
While Mack’s doesn’t make their own cider donuts WITH sugar, they have donuts on hand that they have some brought in from the Chichester Country Store. We picked up a pack of them because cider donuts without sugar are just plain old boring.
The Honeycrisp… it seems to be the ‘it’ apple in recent years. Look how big these beauties are!
Breakfast of champions… splitting a chocolate and a pumpkin whoopie pie that we picked up from a school fundraising table.
The directory outside the store explaining which U-Pick field had which apples directed us to U-Pick Field #3. We went there because we wanted to focus on getting baking apples and this field had a large variety of apples that suited our needs.
U-Pick Field #3 is really 2 fields on either side of a road. We parked on one side and headed over to the farm stand that was set up. We wandered around that field for a while with little success since most of the apples had been picked over and the remaining ones were too high, even for Price to reach. Thankfully, when I went over to ask the woman working there a question about squash blossoms I overheard her telling another family that the field across the street had JUST opened so there would be a lot of apples there. So I hurried back to Price and told him the good news.
The other field was PACKED with apples. We were able to wander around while having a lot of options at our finger tips. I really appreciated that they stagger the opening of fields so that fields are not picked clean so early in the season.
The only real criticism we had of Mack’s was that the steaks at the end of the aisles indicating the type of apples were not really labeled. There were plenty of markers but not all of them were actually labeled. We wanted only baking/pie apples so we did not want to pick anything that was more for sauce or salads so the selection was very important to us. We would have to walk to the front of the orchard to see what each aisle was labeled and then to continue back down them looking for apples. I think that if they were to improve their signage it would make for a much easier apple picking experience.
We sampled some of the different varieties of apples that in U-Pick field #3. All here delicious and sooo fresh. You can’t beat an apple that you just pull off the tree and then bite into.
I’m not always such a smirky jerk… the sun was in my face.
We highly suggest going to Mack’s if you are around Boston or the border of New Hampshire. It was a large beautiful place that was very affordable. The selection of apples allows for the opportinuty to be able to pick ones that will use your needs.
603-434-7619
230 Mammoth Road
Londonderry, NH 03053
This place looks HUGE! We will have to try it on a drive from Boston to NH one weekend. Those squash look fantastic.
So glad you went and had a great time! Love your pics 🙂 if we didn’t already have plans that day I would have tries meeting up with you! Can’t wait to see what goodies you make with the apples! I’m nearly out of mine. Time for another trip to get more haha
So fun! I wish we had places like that!
I don’t know whats going on with my left hand in the last picture. I like the photos I took of you <3 😛
There’s at least four (if not five?) “U Pick” fields at Mack’s, but if you’re looking for a particular apple type, you can always head back into the farmer’s market! They have a VERY large bin set up of fresh picked apples you can sort through (and those are clearly labeled). You fill a bag and buy them their, you still get to pick your own. It may not be as fun as picking them off the trees, but the apples are just as fresh (and free of bruises!) so if you’re looking for “baking” apples, or snacking, or what have you, that’s a good option. (I was just there last weekend and picked up quite a few).
I go there every year, but then, I’m also from Londonderry, so Mack’s is about eight minutes down the road from my house (though I attend school in Boston).
On top of apples and squash and pumpkins galore, they also sell peaches! I think those are in the spring. Over the winter they sell various farm fresh products (like apple pies and maple syrup), among others. Around Christmas they’ll have wreaths and things. And over the summer their Ice Cream stand sells some great hard ice cream!
It’s also a great place for some leaf peeping!
Mack’s has a lot of history, it’s the heart of Londonderry!
I think they have 4 U Pick fields. We enjoyed the 3rd field because it had about a dozen different kinds there.
I miss Mack’s! I can’t wait to move back home and have fresh apples. Also, don’t knock their cider donuts without sugar – they’re very moist and flavorful. I don’t usually like donuts that don’t have some sort of glaze or frosting on them, but I’ll gobble up the cider donuts as is.
I’m not knocking their donuts… I’m knocking ALL sugar less donuts. ha! Just personal preference. It’s like having french fries without ketchup- it just does not feel right.