Today, I had a date with my good friend Theresa to go apple picking. We made a last minute date yesterday when she heard me say “Honey Crisp”. We headed out to Patterson Fruit Farm. Despite the rainy day, we were greeted by two friendly people manning the tent. There were U-Pick Crest Haven peaches today as well, but we were there for apples.
The apples here are priced on a scale based on how many you pick. This sign aside, Honey Crisp were advertised at $1.50 a pound. For reference, honey crisp are the most expensive apple. They were $2.29 at Giant Eagle today (and they weren’t just picked off a local tree.)
The Honey Crisp apples were just a short walk from our car. When we saw the water, we were extra glad to have our garden shoes and boots on. It really wasn’t too bad. It was just sprinkling when we actually picked and we had about 30 pounds of Honey Crisp apples from just a few trees.
After we Honey Crisp, we headed over to the Gala apples. This was actually the Buckeye Gala apple. We quickly picked about 40 pounds and then headed back to the tent to settle up. Because we had 70 pounds total and a mix of the apples, they were priced at 95 cents a pound. It worked out great. If you go with a group of people to pick, you should pay together since that way you get the best overall price. Patterson’s provides bags for picking and they hold quite a few pounds of apples.
The darker smaller red apples are the Gala and the other larger apple is the Honey Crisp.
After picking, we drove up to the market on Caves Road. We purchased apple fritters and donuts for the family and headed home. It was fun, short outing. Apple picking will last about 5 weeks depending on the farm, weather, crowds, varieties, etc. We plan to pick a few more times before the season ends.