Apple Pickin' and Pumpkin Luggin'

I've wanted to go apple and pumpkin picking since the first signs of fall appeared back in early September and this weekend my wish finally came true (granted this has been planned out for almost a month now)!

We rented a car and headed out from the depths of the city to find us some Jersey fresh apples & pumpkins! The weather was not very cooperative, but that didn't deter us. We headed to Wightman Farms in Morristown, NJ, which we'd found through a website that lists all the farms you can pick fresh foods from in NJ! It was really nice being back in a car, with the ability to go wherever you want when you want. Although, and I've said this before, it was kind of exhausting getting in and out of the car all day....sad, but clearly I don't use those muscles (which ever they are) enough.

The orchard was huge, and soggy. I think the rain scarred a lot of people off, which was nice because we got first pick of everything! Not being particularly acquainted with apple picking (it's been a while for me and this was a first for Jon) we were originally limited to the apples we could reach.... until (!) we discovered a pretty nifty device to help get the one's that were high up!

Before

After

There was one section of the orchard where there were all these apples that were smashed into the ground that a frightening number of bees had laid claim to feast on! We looked around and they were everywhere. I was kind of scared at first, however upon further inspection Jon informed me that they were basically laying in the apples and were too "drunk" off the abundance of juice to even know which way was up. This seemed oddly similar to how I feel sometimes after a big meal!

The final part of this experience was to pick the perfect pumpkin! I was scoping out the goods when I finally found one I liked! Jon went around to grab it (of course it was not in an easily accessible location) when all of a sudden the couple in front of us reached for it...we looked at each other in horror (well I was horrified, I think Jon was scared I might start crying) but thankfully they decided it wasn't the one they wanted and abandoned it! It ended up being a 15 pound pumpkin (which was a delight to carry home, needless to say I was sore for a few days)!

Pumpkin Guts!

Happy Halloween!

Such a fun fall experience, I was glad we were able to get out of the city to experience it this year!