Picking fruit

Aaron and I picked pears, apples and grapes at my parents' house. We had to use a basket picker to get the pears and apples from the top branches. It's harder than it looks. We gouged up a lot of fruit.

Chambersburg Peaches... I hardly know ye

Someone I follow on Instagram recently posted a picture of "Chambersburg Peaches". It caught my attention because Chambersburg is a town near where I grew up in Pennsylvania. (What?! A food trend from my hometown I'm not aware of?!)

Sure enough, the more I clicked on hashtags, I discovered that folks, especially around Pittsburgh, are wild about Chambersburg Peaches. Some people point out that peaches don't travel far very well so be wary about signs advertising Chambersburg Peaches. Really all Pennsylvania peaches are quite good.

A Chambersburg peach isn't a variety like Redhaven. They are simply peaches grown in Chambersburg, PA. I was baffled. I certainly remember eating delicious peaches back home, but I don't remember them being famous.

Some say the soil in Franklin County is to thank for these delicious peaches. Some say it's the valley weather. Either way, I think maybe the folks in Pittsburgh are onto something. Aaron and I picked up a peck from an orchard while we were home near Chambersburg. They are delectable indeed.

Serious blueberry picking

I was on a fruit picking mission last summer. I was determined to pick every kind of fruit that was available to be picked. This year I eased up a bit. We picked strawberries and today stopped at Green Acres U Pick for blueberries.

Blueberries have got to be one of the more pleasurable berries to pick. You don't have to bend over like you do for strawberries and you don't get scratched by thorns like you do with raspberries.

At Green Acres, they ask if you are a "serious picker". If you are, you get a bucket and rope to tie around your waist so you can have both hands free for picking. Once my bucket approached half full, I could really feel it weighing me down, but I am fan. I need a picking bucket for all fruit picking adventures!

Busy fruit basket

At the beginning of summer, I put "pick strawberries" on my bucket list. Aaron then bought me a basket for picking and I took it along strawberry picking.

Then we went for cherries and the basket went too.

There there were blueberries.

Pretty much every fruit picking outing we went on... the basket made an appearance.

It continued into fall with grapes...

... and apples. Looking back, we have picked a LOT of fruit. I have a berry stained basket and a freezer full of fruit to show for it!

 

Apple Picking 2014

As soon as I saw on Whittier's Facebook page that they were picking Honeycrisp, I had Aaron meet me at the orchard after work. I asked him to bring my fruit basket ; )

I like going to big agritainment orchards that have wagon rides, donuts, cider and other fall delights but when it comes to getting my Honeycrisp fix... I don't mess around. We head right for Whittier Fruit Farm.

I read a sign at the orchard that their trees are trained to stay small so the apples are easier to pick. As someone on the shorter side of the height spectrum, I appreciate that.

We picked a big bucket for snacking. These are too good for applesauce or pie. Just straight up snacking.

Honeycrisp is my favorite apple, but lately there is a new contender...

Last year, SweeTango tweeted me and asked me to give them a try. They sent me a box of them and some other goodies to try. I just realized that I never posted about it here. I will find the photos and do an update.

I will say, they were good enough that when I saw in early September that Whittier had SweeTango apples for picking, I scooted out there and picked a bucket. Look for the SweeTango post soon.

Funky fruit

I really like trying unusual fruits. The label of this Lemondrop Melon caught my attention. It practically looks like candy. It was a bit sour for me, but Aaron liked it. He loves sour.

Next I spied these grapes at Wegmans. They were called Witches Finger Grapes. Not a fan of the name but the grapes were good. They tasted like normal grapes but they came off the vine very easily which I liked.

I started seeing people post about getting Cotton Candy grapes. Sure enough I walked in to Wegmans and there they were right up front. I could smell cotton candy as soon as I picked up a bag. Wow they really do taste like cotton candy!

And these cotton candy grapes are not some GMO experiment. They come from just regular plant breeding. There is an article on NPR about these designer grapes.

Donut Peaches

A friend of ours works at Hurd's Orchard and was telling us about a type of peach they grow that everyone goes crazy over. Not one to pass over a good tip, when I heard that their donut peaches were ready for picking we skee-daddled on out to get some.

I could not believe my eyes when I saw the donut peach trees. The limbs were so packed with peaches they hung down and touched the ground.

Donut peaches are also called Saturn peaches because of their flat shape. These peaches are a genetic mutation that come from China. The flesh can be white or yellow, melting or non-melting. What does melting mean? Melting peaches become soft when ripe and practically melt in your mouth. A non-melting peach stays firm and are typically used for canning.

What really makes a donut peach stand out is the flavor. They are sweeter and have a touch of almond flavor. I sort of hum when I'm eating one. Instant fan.

Gus the orchard dog hanging out at the donut peach trees was an added bonus.

Juicing berries

I love how we are getting fruits in our CSA share. It gives me more things to juice! This one is apple, carrots and blueberry. I was hoping it would be blue but it only turned out darker than the usual.

This one is cherry, apple and carrot. Still not cherry red, but very tasty.

Red Jacket Orchard

Aaron and I stumbled upon the Red Jacket Farm Store where we were able to taste 10 different juices. The strawberry apple and cherry stomp were our favorite.

They also had a drool worthy selection of honey... look at all the variety!