Apples, Pumpkins, and Pie. Oh My!

One of my favorite things about fall in Minnesota is visiting the many apple orchards we have available to us. Our first trip this year was back in September to a pick your own orchard. The boys had so much fun pulling the apples straight from the tree that once our bag was filled they were tossing them into the bottom basket of the stroller because they couldn't help themselves.




We also have a small family orchard right across from the entrance to our development that we like to walk up to and see what kind of apples they've got for sale throughout the season. In October they also usually have some pumpkins for sale that they've gotten from another farmer. This is where we have gotten our pumpkins to carve for Halloween the last few years. This year, however, we wanted the boys to see where pumpkins really come from by taking them to a pumpkin patch to "pick" our pumpkins.

So on Saturday last weekend we headed to Afton Orchard (another orchard in the Twin Cities area that is open to the public). The boys had a blast seeing all the pumpkins everywhere in the patch and had a hard time deciding which ones to choose. The orchard also had pick your own apple trees so we picked another bagful of those to take home too. (Currently in our fridge there are about 15 lbs. of 4 different kinds of apples!).






With all these apples we decided to make an apple pie on Sunday afternoon. We got this nifty apple peeler, corer, and slicer to aid in the process. I highly recommend it for thinly slicing the apples so that they cook up perfectly in the pie. The boys have also adopted this contraption as their new toy. We've used it everday so far to cut their apples. Even though the pie crust was purchased from the store, it was fun to try something new and make a mostly homeade pie. It was delicious.




I love having opportunities like the local orchards to show our kids how important agriculture is to us and that things don't magically appear ready to eat at the grocery store. This fall, we've been able to take advantage of these opportunities to the fullest and hopefully we'll be able to turn it into a new family tradition!