Apple Picking, Beautiful Autumn Days and Family Memories

I thought they would be all over the place, but what I ran into was many apple orchards where you could go to purchase pre-picked produce, and a few that had already been picked past current ripeness.

I REALLY wanted to go apple picking with my family! This was one of those incredible fall weekends where the temperature was warm, the sky was sparkling blue, and the leaves had started turning. It was perfect out, and I was reminded, once again, why I love living in this part of the country. I love having seasons!

So, I persevered and ultimately found this wonderful place called Alldredge’s Apple Man Orchard. Its located just off of 152 Highway, a little bit south of Platte City.

This was the perfect place to make family memories.

We walked past the bakery/cafe, up to one of the barns, where first we were greeted by the fluffiest little black chickens,

Then we each grabbed a basket, and hubby grabbed a “picker”. Honestly, I had never thought about how to get the apples off the trees, beyond what you could reach. I think I had visions of cheery, pink cheeked people on ladders balancing bucketfuls of apples. (Sounds like an illustration from a Dick and Jane book. Okay, that makes me sound ancient!)

The picker is actually quite simple. It consists of wire prongs that get between the apple and the tree branch which allows for the fruit to drop into the wire basket, with just a gentle tug. The whole thing is attached to the end of a wooden pole.

Once there, we gathered up a variety of pumpkins, one to carve and others to bring some of the fall feeling into our home.

The gift shop had some really great seasonal décor and clothing pieces. It also had cider and assorted handcrafted food items. There were also some beautiful, unique jewelry items on the sales counter. They’d make a awesome gift for someone special on your Christmas list.

We completed our visit by checking out the bakery. YUM!, is the best way to describe it. They had beautiful pies, caramel apples and all sorts of huge cookies. I picked out a dozen and a half of the cookies to take home. (Hey, picking all those apples will make you hungry!) They were all so good, but you gotta try the “Monster” cookies. They’re oatmeal, peanut butter and chocolate chip, and they don’t contain any flour. The lady at the counter said they were her grandchildren’s favorites, and I can certainly understand why. Wow!

Please check out their website for more information on activities and events offered at the farm, and for hours and directions: Apple picking at its best, http://www.theappleman.org/ Get out there and tour my town!