Cider – Marilyn R. Gardner

Fall in New England is a season to live for. The humidity of August is replaced by warm days and crisp nights, usually accompanied by brilliant blue skies. There is a sense of anticipation as the many universities begin and students from all over the world come to the area to study. The anticipation is also a recognition that the beautiful days will not last forever, and inevitably winter will come.

Fall foliage is famous in this part of the country, but along with the foliage are other things that are equally beautiful and appealing. Pumpkins, apples, mums, cider, and more are all part of the season that is fall. This weekend we experienced all of this through the quintessential (I love that word!) activity of apple picking.

It doesn’t get better than apple picking in New England. The ingredients for success are a working farm with many varieties of apples, a ride on bails of hay in a tractor (aka hay ride), kids (it doesn’t matter the age – they’ll still be excited and fight), cider apple donuts and cold milk, cider, chili-dogs, and all the apples your stomach can handle during the process. Once you get home, you shine the apples until you can see light reflect off them, and bake apple crisp, crumble, bread, sauce, scones, pie, or whatever you want. I feel like Pioneer Woman – only a city pioneer woman and so proud.

DSCN2126 - Copy — Pumpkins, gourds, mums & hay created a brilliant display and photo op

DSCN2127 — Can you imagine this in your front yard? Only if you lived on a farm!

DSCN2114 - Copy — Never put up a sign like this when you know a Gardner is going to be coming. It's an open invitation....

DSCN2155 - Copy — This is where people weren't supposed to climb....

The farm we picked is located in Amesbury, Massachusetts, just a few miles from the New Hampshire border. Called Cider Hill Farm, it boasts hundreds of apple and peach trees;a country store with home made baked goods, cider donuts and jams, jellies and syrups; a large number of chickens, and plenty of room for all.

Enjoy the trip through pictures and then go online and book your plane or bus tickets and come to experience pumpkins,picking, eating and baking apples, mums and more.

Note from Blogger: No wonder I usually stick to only one or two pictures! Putting in pictures with clever captions is far more difficult than writing!