Apple Picking

Recently I was given the opportunity to go apple picking at Wilklow Orchards in Highland, NY. It was about a two-hour drive upstate, but it was worth the trip. The orchard housed several different types of apples I had never heard of before. Supermarket staples Gala and Red Delicious were available, but other types such as Jonagold, Jonamac, and Mutsu were ripe for our picking. We were given a map to identify the locations of the different types of apples. This made it easy to navigate the orchard and seek out particular types we wanted. I was hoping to pick some Granny Smith apples, but this orchard did not grow them.


The apples in my local market, no matter what type, are always either a bright red or green and very shiny. I was surprised to find most of the apples in the orchard had a waxy texture and were a combination of red and green in color.  It became hard to tell the types apart in my bag of apples, because they looked so similar. After wiping the apples clean, we were able to bite into them right away, and they tasted very fresh and natural.   This whole experience made me realize just how important it is to eat fresh fruit and that fruit we are used to buying from the supermarket may not be as healthy for us as we think it is.