Homestead Orchard

I have been wanting to go to another apple orchard with Rob and Evan so we could do some apple picking. Evan and I didn't pick any apples at the orchard we went to a couple of weeks ago and I have been wanting to attempt an apple pie. Yesterday was a beautiful, warm day, a little windy, but we knew we wouldn't have another Saturday like this to go apple picking. So we jumped at the chance! We called our friends, Steve and JoAnn Knighton, and asked if they wanted to join us. They were up for it and had heard of a place called Homestead Orchard. It was about a 30 minute drive and oh so beautiful. All of the leaves were changing and the colors were gorgeous. The reds were my favorite. It reminded Rob and I a lot of Boston and our leaf peeping adventures.

Homestead Orchard was great for Evan. There were some animals to pet and feed. Evan loved pulling grass and feeding it to the animals. Though I think Rob actually enjoyed it as much as Evan! There were a ton of pumpkins and Evan loved playing with the little ones. We let Evan pick out a pumpkin and we got a big one for Rob and I.

We took a hay ride into the apple orchard and the farmer dropped us off to do what we came for - to pick apples! The farmer was great. He let us taste all the different kinds of apples so we knew what ones we favored. We had a great time looking for those perfect apples to enjoy eating and make delicious apple treats! Evan loved throwing the apples. He would pick up the apples that had fallen on the ground and throw them as if they were baseballs. Our friends son, Ben, who is 1-year-old, and Evan had a great time roaming through the orchard. Once we had our apples we walked back to the farm house for the big weigh in. And Rob and I lost! We only had just over 10 lbs of apples and the Knightons had 15 lbs!

At the end while the adults were chatting, Evan and Ben enjoyed playing in the hay wagon. They had a great time running between the bails of hay and poking their heads through the slats on the wagon.

We really enjoyed ourselves especially since this may be our last nice Saturday before the cold sets in. Today I made my first apple pie and it was so good!! But I forgot to take a picture of it so I can't prove it. I was a little nervous that I would do something horribly wrong and it would taste awful, but it was delicious! The recipe I used was from my friend Morgan's blog. I have always loved the apple pies she makes and now I feel very fortunate to have the recipe. It is an apple pie with a crumb crust on top, which is my favorite. I am not too much of a fan of pies with the crust on top and bottom. So this is the perfect pie according to my mouth! Try it and it will get you right into the autumn spirit!