Ok, so we didn't actually pick apples in New York City, but it was a catchy title that I couldn't pass up, much like our apple picking excursion in UPSTATE NEW YORK.
So for a while now, I've been wanting to pick something from a bush or a tree. Preferably money, but really anything would have made me happy. Apples, blueberries, blackberries... anything. So since I heard that New York has apple orchards, and we were going to be there during the end of the apple picking season, I made it our priority.
There were a few options nearby in Warwick, NY. Apple Ridge Orchards, Pennings Orchard and Ochs Orchard. A friend of ours specifically suggested Ochs so that’s what we went with. There's a little market at the entrance of the property that sells a lot of locally sourced goods including some life altering apple cider doughnuts, but don't take my word for it.
Drive up past the market and you'll find a large parking lot for the fruit pickers. I say fruit pickers instead of apple pickers because besides apple trees, the property has different harvests based on the time of year. When we went, they had veggies, apples, pumpkins and tomatoes (ew). Throughout the rest of the year, the seasons bring cherries, raspberries, blueberries, blackberries, and peaches.
You stop by the little hut at the entrance to the fields and select between a big bag and a bigger bag. We chose the big bag and grabbed a map that detailed where the different varieties were located. Unfortunately for us, it was November and that meant the season was near its end so most of our favourites (think honey crisp, pink lady, macintosh) were already picked, but that didn't keep us from having fun. Since so many had already passed through the orchard, most of the apples were at the tops of the trees so I had to climb once or twice... shucks. That being said, I'm not sure that was allowed, so don't tell on me.
Some of my favorite moments were when I either couldn't read the map or I had never heard of a certain apple type so I had to test them. I'd literally pick an apple, rub it on my shirt (yay hygiene) and take a bite. I was living a dream. Invariably, I wouldn't particularly like that variety of apple, but then guess what I did. I dropped it on the floor! Right next to its brothers and sisters who had already fallen. The circle of apple life.
We left the grounds with a bag full of apples and phones full of pictures. Unfortunately, our bliss was short lived, because we realized that we couldn't possibly finish the apples before going back home and since we flew Spirit* and didn't spring for the check on luggage, we couldn't bring our babies with us. So we gave them to a good home - some relatives in NY.
*side rant: If you heard of Spirit airlines for the first time, what would you expect? Maybe a freeing experience? Releasing your inhibitions and traveling with reckless abandon, right? No. Literally everything is inhibited, even leg room. False advertising if you ask me. But you didn't, so...
