Can we talk about apple picking?

[anna7602]

Has this always been a common activity to do in the fall or has it become more of a thing in the last ten years? Or does it depend on your part of the country/socioeconomic class/some other factor I'm not thinking of?

My entire Facebook feed was full of family apple-picking pics this weekend (including my own). I never did this as a kid and don't remember any of my friends/classmates telling me they'd been apple-picking with their families over the weekend. Granted, I grew up in a very urban area, but even friends who stayed in that same city had pictures of going apple picking out in the country with their kids this weekend.

[badtzmaru22]

I didn't even know it existed until 2007 when we went with friends for the first time. This was in Ohio. Where I had lived since 1994 and had never heard of it, although my friends said it was always a thing. Before that, I lived in the UK and I know apple picking is not a thing there.

I think some of it is people our age having kids now, and FB showing everything in people's lives.

[justjen]

We went every year growing up.

Middle class, NNJ.

[Deleted]

I never did it growing up but I was in CO. H and I have been going to the same place every year for the last 8 or 9 years. It has become more and more crowded the last 4 or so years. To the point where every year for the last 4 years they have had to "upgrade" their wagons to bigger ones and the lines are just massive.

This is my unscientific evidence that it is much more popular now.

[thatgirl2478]

It's been around a while. I remember doing it as a kid - and I'm 37. That said, it's become even bigger than it was before. It used to be a way to get some apples, maybe pick your own pumpkin from the field, if you were lucky get some apple donuts and cider. Now it's a freakin' event.

I hate the activity of picking apples - I figure that's why they have bags of them pre picked...

[mellimel19]

I also grew up in a very urban area, but my family went apple picking every year when I was growing up. I always looked forward to it because my mom would bake huge batches of apple strudel from the apples we picked.

[simpsongal]

I'm from South Jersey and we went every year. I think berry picking is newer but apple and pumpkin picking have been around a loooong time.

I went mostly for the cider donuts

[yellowbrkrd]

We did it growing up, we also did the pumpkin patch and Christmas tree farm.

[Velar Fricative]

We went almost every year growing up. We were a working class family in southern Westchester County, NY so my family would drive up to the Hudson Valley for apple-picking (and we did other types of fruit/veggie-picking too). My parents grew up on farms so this made them feel more at home. So seeing this on my feed isn't unusual since it's what we did growing up too. 

Aside from that though, I think among higher SES groups, the trend towards local, whole foods is what might be making produce-picking activities even more popular these days. Just my theory.

[Deleted]

Probably depends on where you live. I grew up near the beach and apple orchards were not exactly plentiful, lol. Now I live in upstate NY where it's a "thing" but that's probably because there are orchards all over the place.

Anyway it's a fun family activity. We always make a pie afterwards.

[humpforfree]

We did every year growing up- upstate NY.

[Myrrhine]

We did it growing up, but my grandpa owned an apple orchard so we were free labor for a weekend.

[ryry]

We went every fall growing up. My dad and his friends would even rent a school bus some years so everyone could go as a big group. I grew up in MA though-my husband had never been (Ohio).

[Deleted]

There are not apples here. I did go that time my sister lived in Davis, California. It was ok, but I grew up picking things (berries and garden produce) and it's not what I consider "fun".

[countthestars]

We always have - it's very New England

[hainesherway]

I don't remember doing actual apple picking as a kid, but I do remember going to the pumpkin patch/cider mill. I would take my kids as there are several apple orchards in the area.

[arch01]

We never did it growing up, but we really didn't have an orchard around us. We took DS on Sunday and we really enjoyed it.

[snshne322]

I live in MA so I've done it almost my whole life. I also remember strawberry picking as a kid, which I still do now.

[redheadbaker]

We never went when I was a kid, probably because they would have just gone bad. My mom did not (still does not) cook or bake.

[awkwardpenguin]

I grew up about a mile and a half from an orchard. We went every year and my first job was picking up drops for 25 cents a bushel. When I was growing up one of the appeals of pick your own was the apples were much cheaper that way.

Now I live in a big city and apple picking is a money making industry in the suburbs and exurbs. It's like $14 per person for a paltry number of apples.

We just buy apples at Aldi now.

[antoniamarchette]

We went every year. I'm in central NY so there are orchards everywhere. But recently it's become more of an event with kids areas, pony rides, food and drinks. The largest one in the area also brews hard cider so there is a large tasting room which is great!

[imojoebunny]

We had apple trees in our back yard, and my grandparents both had orchards, so it was a thing we did for food (we canned a lot of apple sauce!), but it was not the thing it is today. We also picked berries and tomatoes at truck farms, and canned and froze them. There was no petting zoo, pumpkin cannon, pie, or cider.

[ilikedonuts]

We did it every year in Ohio growing up. I think there has only been a few years in my life that I haven't.

[ilikedonuts]

There is nothing fancy where we pick apples other then like a playground.

Fall festivals are more common now but that's not tied to apple picking.

[zeewifeandmama]

Never did growing up, but now raising my kids across the country we go pick everything! Lol

[aspentosh]

We always went when I was younger. I think you're just seeing it more now because of social media.

[cincodemayo]

We didn't go apple picking per say but we always went to an orchard to get bags of the locally grown apples and made apple crisp and stuff. My parents now have their own apple trees so I doubt they go.

I think popularity has increased. Some of the apple orchards have to make a gazillion dollars in the fall.

[motzie]

We went every year. Upstate NY apples are the best!

[turtlegirl]

Oct 13, 2015 9:04:31 GMT -5 yellowbrkrd said:

We did it growing up, we also did the pumpkin patch and Christmas tree farm.

All of this. But we lived about 30 mins from a huge group of about 50 family farms that group themselves together that includes a variety of apple orchards, pumpkin patches and tree farms and wineries. It was a big thing for field trips and I went with my girl scout troop, etc.

We go as a family every year at least twice. Once for apples/pumpkins and once for our xmas tree.

We live in Northern California where we grow a lot of food.

[karinothing]

We did not apple pick as a kid, but we lived in AZ and TX so not many apples. DH and his family thing we are a bunch of weirdos because their family grew up in agriculture and worked hard to not pick their own fruit/veggies. But I love it!