fresh apples Archives - I am a Honey Bee

I know, I know… It’s a bit late in the season to post about apple picking but I couldn’t resist sharing these pictures from when we went apple picking a few weeks ago. Plus things are still great in some orchards so don’t think you’ve missed your chance just yet!!

We try to go to different orchards every year to experience something new and see which ones we like the best. Price found Cider Hill Farm in Amesbury, MA so we headed up there for a bit of apple picking.

Once you grab a bag for the apples you are ready to go! They give out a handy guide to inform you about each variety, such as what they tasted like, and where each apple is in the several orchards. As well, we were told which apples were best to harvest now and where they were in the orchards, just to help us out.

I feel that the info could be improved to help you pick which apple you would want for what use. We always go to the orchards to get apples that are great for eating and baking with since I’m not one to really make sauce. So we ended up pulling up info on our phones as we walked around the orchards. (As well, this guide is really helpful!)

Could not get over the hanging baskets. Just look how big they are compared to the pumpkins!

Rows upon rows of apples fresh for the picking!

We wandered around the long rows picking apples at the tips of our finger tips. There is just something so fun about squishing yourself in the branches and just grabbing hold of a fresh shiny apple!

Autumn is just so beautiful.

ahh bliss! These were fresh from the frier and so dang good. They were airy, flavorful, and the perfect consistency for apple cider donuts. We got a dozen because we get them 1x a year and I figured eating 6 was reasonable…

For the 2013 season the price for apples is $1.85/lb and pumpkins are $.59/lb.

Cider Hill Farm

45 Fern Ave

Amesbury, MA 01913

(978) 388-5525

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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.