October 22, Carter Mountain Orchard Visit

Was it the right place?

This was the big question.  We were deciding between the apple orchard near Crabtree Falls, Seaman's Orchard, which we really liked, and Chiles near the farm walk (Monticello Trail).  Crabtree was farther away and we were worried about Logan making the hike.  When we went last year to Seaman's, we found we really liked their cherry preserves and apple cider.  It's more remote as well so a lot less crowded.  But we took the risk to try something new even given the prior warnings about the crowds.

To beat the crowds, we went to Carter orchard before the farm walk.  First thing we noticed was that we had severely underestimated the weather.  The wind was fierce and the temp was extremely cold.  We took dogs out 2 at a time, starting with Frye and Braddock. 

We walked to the Fuji apple trees.  Most the of the trees were picked clean so we had to go farther back and Russ had to climb the trees like a monkey to get us some apples (see the pics below of Russ picking our first apple and climbing the trees).  But we got a lot of good Fuji apples from the efforts.


After we picked a couple bags worth (see the pic of me with Frye and Braddock above that shows the apples), we switched dogs and got Logan out.  As usual, he was the crowd favorite.  Children love to pet him.  And he stood patiently waiting as I packed up some previously picked Jonagold apples.

The crowds were crazy by this time, even with the extreme chill.  The only bonus here was the already hot apple cider for purchase and apple cider donuts (which I could actually eat).  But the selection of jams weren't as good (no cherry preserves).  All in all, we were more impressed with Seaman's Orchard.

After the Orchard:We headed to the farm loop and walked the usual route.  We remembered the time when the dogs dragged Russell through the mud and then Phineas got up and bobbled over to see a dog while Russ lay on the ground covered in mud.  It was Frye's first time to the farm loop,  And then after, we headed to King Family for a picnic but we ended up just scarfing down lunch as it was so cold out.  We were one of a few people sitting outside.  We weren't there for wine, just wanted a nice view while we ate, but it truly was a little too cold to thoroughly enjoy it.



What to do with a pile of apples?It was a daunting task ahead.  I spent the next day prepping apples for 2 pies (now sitting in freezer ready for me to make pie crust), apple butter, apple muffins (King Arthur recipe), apple crisp (King Arthur recipe we also really liked).  And there's still plenty of apples in the fridge to enjoy.