A Mommy in the City: Apple Picking

Before moving to NYC I never knew where apples were grown. To be honest I never really put much thought into it. But after moving up here and hearing all of my friends that have gone, I figured I had to try it myself. Apparantly New York is big in the apple growing. Who knew? (Ok, maybe you did, but I had no clue.)

We got our zipcar this morning (for those of you unfamiliar with zipcar, it's a service that allows you to rent a car by the hour. A savior for those of us w/o cars here.) and traveled about 30 miles north to Congers, NY at Dr. Davies Farm (http://www.drdaviesfarm.com/) The drive there was absolutely amazing. The leaves are starting to change and the rivers and lakes looked spectacular.

I think it is very easy to get sucked into this NYC bubble that makes you forget that there is life outside the city. I forgot what hills and mountains and nature really looked like. It was very refreshing to see it again and to experience it with my family.

We got to Dr. Davies farm and it is on a fabulous piece of land with a family house right on the property. You purchase the apple picker and a bag and start your picking. There were three types of apples available to pick today (although I can't remember which kind they were) It is quite amazing to see so many apple trees both green and red apples. This was a first for all of us.

Harlan had such a great time. Some of the apples that we picked were "baby" apples and perfect for her. She started chomping on one as soon as we started picking and had a great time running around the farm. We picked both green and red apples and even bought some fresh apple cider (made on the farm) and apple butter (a favorite of MacKay) They even have hay rides and a pumpkin patch, which we didn't have time for.

It was such a great family day and great to see other parts of New York state. If you ever have a chance to come up to the city this time of year, you must take a couple hours out of your day to go apple picking. It is so much fun! It is best to get there early (they start apple picking at 10am) because we noticed that as we were leaving the place started to get really packed and crowded.

Now I am home to make all things apple. I am in the process of making apple crisp for our dessert tonight. I plan on making some apple sauce and an apple pie this week. If you have any great apple recipes just post a comment of it. I have PLENTY of apples.

Here are a few pictures of our trip today: