Fall colors, roadside pumpkin stands and apple picking – I recently took a day trip to Door County Wisconsin to go apple picking with my step-daughter and great-niece. Using U-Pick Farm Locator as our guide to find a u-pick apple orchard we selected Choice Orchards Farm Market in Sturgeon Bay, WI.
Choice Orchards apple harvest goes from early September through late October with u-pick apples available from mid-September through mid-October. We were in luck and hit one of the last weeks of the u-pick apple season. Depending on the time of your visit and the harvest calendar the pick your own apple varieties include Gala, Mac, Macoun and Snosweet. At the time of our visit the Macoun Apples were ready to be picked. Macoun (pronounced ‘ma-cow-an’) is a cross between the McIntosh and Jersey Black Apples. Macoun Apples have a crisp flesh and sweet taste making them ideal for eating fresh, making sauces and pies. Macoun Apples are considered one of the best all-purpose cooking apples around. We were given directions of where to walk to find the u-pick apple trees and off we went to pick a couple bags of apples.
After picking we took a look around the retail store. In their farm market Choice Orchards offer 20 varieties of already picked apples. They encourage customers to try the different varieties by selecting from a tray of sample apples. You could choose from about 6 apple varieties, take your apple up to the counter for slicing and then walk around the market nibbling on your juicy apple. They also have ciders, jams, jellies, caramel apples and cookbooks for you to enjoy. In addition to our Macoun Apples I bought some Halloween gourds and a bottle of Honeycrisp Apple Sparkling Juice.
The main attraction for Choice Orchards comes in the summer with cherry picking season. They grow both sweet and tart cherries. Approximate harvest dates for Sweet Cherries are from early to late July and Tart Cherries from mid July to mid August. I love cherries and am going to put cherry picking on my calendar for next year.
Just had to share this picture. My step-daughter and great-niece stepped behind the Vegetable and Fruit cutouts to have their picture taken. Choice Orchards also has a picnic area and playground for kids to have some fun.
