Every fall I like to make at least one trip to Apple Hill, a fun area of orchards, tree farms, crafts, breweries, and wineries all connected by narrow, winding, hilly, scenic roads. And it comes alive in fall with harvest festivities, pumpkins, apples, turning leaves, and the smell of pumpkin pies. It’s corny, but gorgeous with fresh produce and apple butter everywhere. My mom and I started our trip today with lunch at a local grill where the only vegan option was a fried eggplant sandwich.
It was wonderful layered with smashed avocado that made up for the pathetic side salad.
From there, we grabbed our maps and tackled the winding roads to visit anything that looked interesting.
For me, it was the scenery, nature trails, and produce that interested me. The loads of crafts, BBQ, and sugary baked goods did not.
Denver Dan’s Apple Patch had a unique collection of used books and dried apple crafts for sale to go with fresh apples and jars of apple and pumpkin butter.
And a crazy old apple peeler and corer.
We moved on to another casual little orchard where we picked our own apples, I had no problem loading a bucket for $1 per lb.
Next stop was Boa Vista Orchards for some crazy produce.
Like massively huge sweet potatoes.
And pears.
Mmm, the jalapeno mustard was nicely spicy.
And I had to get a branch of brussels sprouts.
The final stop was Boeger Winery, an Apple Hill tradition since it’s last on the route making wine tasting on gorgeous property a relaxing way to end the day. Even better that all their wines are vegan friendly and they have a sense of humor.
I only bought two bottles on this trip, such restraint! Then took in the lovely gardens celebrating a successful shopping day.
And exercising more restraint to not snack on the fresh grapes, figs, and pears growing all over the garden.
Our kitchen is slightly overloaded with fresh produce now.
I won’t be running out of apples anytime soon!
And I’m looking forward to trying this – a banana squash.
I’ve never had one of these before if you can believe it, but had to buy this thing! It’s about the size of a large watermelon and the cashier said they’re amazing roasted by themselves without any butter or seasonings.
Have you ever tried banana squash?