U-Pick Apples at Apple Barn

It is more important to blog about apples now because this topic is time sensitive, you see. So, I am taking a one day intermission from the Atlanta series to blog about the apple season starting about this time of the year.

We know of a U-Pick in Abbotsford called Apple Barn. They have a website at http://applebarn.ca. The apple picking seasons started on Saturday last week and will last until mid to late October. If you had not experience picking your own apples before, you should plan to make your way there. It is great fun.

When we were there last weekend, only the Gala apples were opened for picking. Most of the other varieties will be available for picking starting next weekend. This was OK since my favourite apple is Gala anyway.

Since this was the first week and only Gala was available, there were not many people during this weekend. I think it would get a lot more busier starting next week. A few close family friends of ours went there early (the orchard opens at 10AM last weekend) and had practically the entire orchard to ourselves.

For the Gala apples, it costs $6 for 10lb. They don’t weigh what you pick. As long as you could fit all the apples in the 10lb bag, and that the handles touches, it’ll be $6. They also have 20lb bags which costs $10 but that was way too much for our small family. Next week, when they open to more varieties, it will costs a bit more. Check their website for their pricing. I figured that u-pick apples is about half the cost of what you pay for in the supermarkets.

Besides the fun of picking apples, the big deal about u-picks is that you get really fresh apples. They were extremely crunchy and gives a loud crunch when bitten into. I am not sure if it is OK to eat a few while you pick but I had one. Bring along some water to wash the apples before you eat them. I am not sure what pesticides are used if any.

You see the apple above I took? Well, there are worms in the one I had. I did not realize it until later. Oh … I am not sure if I had swallowed it!

Some of the Galas were really small. Vince love them but I did not try it. I had a few in the bag somewhere … will try it tomorrow. Our boys does not like apples and what that means is that between Suanne and I, we’ll have to finish them off before they go bad. 5 lbs each. Oh …

We’re not supposed to pick Honeycrisps until next week. Well, I took one nice big one and stuff it right into the middle of the bag. It was great … you should go for them when they open the Honeycrisps for picking next week. I am sure that they’ll be picked cleaned out if you wait another week or so.

If you have nothing planned for the weekend the next couple of weeks, go and make a trip to Apple Barn. Tell them you found them through http://chowtimes.com.

Back to regular programming tomorrow …