Pick your own has always been a thing here as long as I can remember and I'm old.
It does seem to have morphed from people picking to save money on mass quantities for canning/freezing to a photo opportunity for parents of younger kids. I went a few times with my mom but I was old enough to really be useful.
I only ever took my son to the pumpkin patch hay ride and to cut down a Christmas tree. He's 22; we still go pick out trees together.
We did pumpkin patch but not apple picking as kids in rural Midwest. We don't do it here in Denver because there are no orchards nearby. I would though because I feel like it's important to show my city kids where their food comes from . That said, my HS had an orchard & I picked apples for detention . We'd go buy an apple after sports practice or a gallon of cider for home. I miss that!
Post by purplecow0206 on Oct 13, 2015 9:40:27 GMT -5
We never went apple picking, but would go strawberry picking every year as kids. Now, my sisters go apple picking locally (they still live near my parents) every year and my mom and dad join them. I think my mom just didn't think about doing that with us, or else we would have for sure.
We did pumpkin patch but not apple picking as kids in rural Midwest. We don't do it here in Denver because there are no orchards nearby. I would though because I feel like it's important to show my city kids where their food comes from . That said, my HS had an orchard & I picked apples for detention . We'd go buy an apple after sports practice or a gallon of cider for home. I miss that!
I grew up in a fairly rural area with lots of farms and apple and pumpkin picking were huge for us. (Behind my parents' house was a horse farm and in front was a corn or pumpkin field depending on the year.). I'd often go to a local cider mill to get doughnuts and pick apples after school. Way closer than anywhere else to get an after school snack! We also bought most of our fruits and veggies at these farms' markets in part because they were way more convenient than going to a supermarket in another town.
In the area I grew up in, there has definitely been an increase in fall farm activities -- traffic has become atrocious on fall weekends. There was a child pedestrian fatality at one of the farms last year because of overcrowding with busses and such. There weren't those crowds when I was younger.
It is really funny to see a ton of Facebook friends from the city post check-ins/photos at the places that are two miles from my parents' house and that I've been to a million times.
We did pumpkin patch but not apple picking as kids in rural Midwest. We don't do it here in Denver because there are no orchards nearby. I would though because I feel like it's important to show my city kids where their food comes from . That said, my HS had an orchard & I picked apples for detention . We'd go buy an apple after sports practice or a gallon of cider for home. I miss that!
Are you accusing my parents of a parenting fail?
Ha! My mom grew up in the inner city (near Southside Chicago) where there were no trees except in the parks...she turned out awesome . She raised us in the country & hated it there except the gardening/fresh produce.
Yes - i live in a town that has a bunch of orchards. That said, it doesn't sound like a fun activity so i haven't done it with the kids. I don't bake much and you can buy local apples at the stands and stores around here Maybe when the kids are older they'd enjoy it more, but we do more fall festival places that have hay rides, corn pits, etc.
I will join the NY/NJers and say we did it every year. My parents used to drive to New Paltz to do it. Which is crazy because there are about 1000 orchards between where I grew up and there.
And while we are discussing, OMG!!!! People stop picking apples. My poor little town has so much traffic now and my favortie bar to hang out at is at the apple orchard. Its too busy for me. Although now they have food trucks there as well and I had a crepe with cinnamon apples and caramel and it was amazingly delicious. Keep the food just get rid of all the people. (And i say this all in jest because I know the business they are doing now helps fund their entire year so i am thankful).
We went every year but it wasn't a festival- it was strictly Apple picking. We never did a pumpkin patch because that wasn't a thing that required a separate event.
I grew up in a fairly rural area with lots of farms and apple and pumpkin picking were huge for us. I'd often go to a local cider mill to get doughnuts and pick apples after school. Way closer than anywhere else to get an after school snack! We also bought most of our fruits and veggies at these farms' markets in part because they were way more convenient than going to a supermarket in another town.
In the area I grew up in, there has definitely been an increase in fall farm activities -- traffic has become atrocious on fall weekends. There was a child pedestrian fatality at one of the farms last year because of overcrowding with busses and such. There weren't those crowds when I was younger.
It is really funny to see a ton of Facebook friends from the city post check-ins/photos at the places that are two miles from my parents' house and that I've been to a million times.
I think we went picking at this same place this weekend. I used to go a ton in HS bc I had friends who lived there and don't remember it being so crowded. It took us an hour & 15 minutes to get OUT of the parking lot this weekend. I don't think we'll go back next year.
Not that I was home but you went apple picking without me. I live in apple mecca. Come to me next year. And I totally kid because i also went without you.
I'm coming over for those crepes!!! YOU HAVE BEEN HOLDING OUT ON ME!
We used to have a french cafe that we went to every sunday for crepes. So delicious. They closed (were shut down forcefully) because they didnt feel like paying their taxes to NY State. I was crushed.
Post by water*drop on Oct 13, 2015 10:19:41 GMT -5
We picked apples, berries, pumpkins, etc, every year, and there were (are) local festivals associated with most of those that we attended as well. I grew up in rural (agricultural) Ohio.
I will join the NY/NJers and say we did it every year. My parents used to drive to New Paltz to do it. Which is crazy because there are about 1000 orchards between where I grew up and there.
And while we are discussing, OMG!!!! People stop picking apples. My poor little town has so much traffic now and my favortie bar to hang out at is at the apple orchard. Its too busy for me. Although now they have food trucks there as well and I had a crepe with cinnamon apples and caramel and it was amazingly delicious. Keep the food just get rid of all the people. (And i say this all in jest because I know the business they are doing now helps fund their entire year so i am thankful).
I will join the NY/NJers and say we did it every year. My parents used to drive to New Paltz to do it. Which is crazy because there are about 1000 orchards between where I grew up and there.
And while we are discussing, OMG!!!! People stop picking apples. My poor little town has so much traffic now and my favortie bar to hang out at is at the apple orchard. Its too busy for me. Although now they have food trucks there as well and I had a crepe with cinnamon apples and caramel and it was amazingly delicious. Keep the food just get rid of all the people. (And i say this all in jest because I know the business they are doing now helps fund their entire year so i am thankful).
Post by undecidedowl on Oct 13, 2015 10:53:41 GMT -5
Yep, we did all sorts of stuff like apple picking growing up. I enjoy it and we take our kids now. While it does make a fun photo activity, that's not why we do it. If I could grow all the food in my own backyard we wouldn't go.
I grew up in the boonies, near orchards and Christmas tree farms, and I don't really ever remember going to pick our own food, though periodically we'd buy some fruit or veggies there. For some reason, I am all about the you-pick stuff as an adult/parent.
The real proliferation, from my observation the last ten years, seems to be in the activities at the farms. It's no longer just a field of pumpkins/row of trees, but hay bale mazes and corn filled sandboxes and little tractor rides and special slides, etc. Nobody seemed to be doing the extra stuff around us when I was growing up.
I grew up in Maine, and although I never went with my parents (lazy bums), everyone else went apple picking every. single. year. Same goes for pumpkins, and cutting down Christmas trees.
We did pick apples off some trees on our own property, picked pumpkins from the neighbors garden, and helped the neighbors dig up potatoes.
My dad also planted a huge vegetable garden every summer which I was partly responsible for picking. Wild berries were also my responsibility. Blueberries, tiny field strawberries, blackberries, raspberries, etc. The berries were the best.
I didn't even know it was a thing until I was in my 30s and it didn't sound at all appealing to me, although now that I'm a mom it seems to be a huge thing. We went this year for the first time b/c DD's Hebrew School did it as a field trip. It was sort of fun, but not worth the drive or the money. I don't think we'll do it again.
Post by HoneySpider on Oct 13, 2015 11:52:14 GMT -5
We went every year growing up, we had orchards about 15 min away (central NJ)
Me, DH & my mom went a few weeks ago when we were up there, it was the first time I've gone in a while. One of the perks of living back in the northeast
Post by missmaddie on Oct 13, 2015 12:23:47 GMT -5
We would do something every year or two as a kid. Apples one year, strawberries the next, Christmas tree, then apples again (not necessarily exactly like that).
I think the big addition I'm seeing are the play/Adventure Farms. Not just U-Pick anymore, but you pick, you ride/climb/pose for photos/go through the corn maze, etc.