My first time picking apples was just a couple years ago at an orchard in or near Gray. I was with a visiting friend, my housemate and my daughter. We had a blast playing hide-and-go-seek through the orchard and taking pictures of each other “bobbing” for apples in the barrel. And we got to take home apples that tasted way better than the ones you buy in the grocery store.
And then I discovered there are like a gazillion orchards in Maine.
Randall Orchards in Standish offers apple-picking by the peck or bushel, applewood, a variety of gourds and tons of pumpkins ($5-8) for sale. On weekends, you can get a free tractor ride across the orchard. I went with our new editorial assistant, Amber, and her daughter Brooklyn. We took a leisurely morning stroll through the rows searching for the best apples and discussing the nature of life. We had an apple throwing contest to see who could throw the highest and Brooklyn had an apple tasting party. We left with bags of apples and plans to return.
Thompson Orchards in New Gloucester welcomes pickers with the roadside sign “From our family to yours.” To the left of the entrance are picnic tables, a swing set, wooden crates of pumpkins for sale and a line of stand-up shapes of a pumpkin, a bug, a butterfly and a sunflower with faces cut out for picture ops. There’s an old-time shop where you can purchase homemade doughnuts, pies, cider, bread, gourds, T-shirts, jams, mittens and more. It smells like heaven in there. Apples are $0.85 per pound whether you pick them yourself or not. They also offer weekend hayrides for a small fee.
The first time I tried to visit Thompson’s, I drove to New Gloucester, got lost for an hour and gave up. The next day, with the (crabby) boyfriend and new directions, we managed to find the orchard with no problem. We took a romantic walk through the orchard (actually I took a romantic walk while el groucho pouted). But it wasn’t long before the apple magic worked on him and our “romantic” walk graduated to a this-is-kind-of-fun, apple-picking walk.
Experience the apple magic at the Randall or Thompson orchards where you’ll find rows upon rows of Cortland and McIntosh apples. In a few weeks the golden delicious at Thompson’s and the Northern spies at Randall’s should be ready for picking. Apple-picking will be over at the end of October, so get there soon and don’t forget to get your pumpkin.
What do you do with all those apples?
Make Apple Brandy! Here’s a secret family (but not my family’s) recipe.
For a five gallon batch, you will need:
A crock (can be glass) larger than five gallons
10 lbs. sugar
4 quarts thinly sliced, de-cored apples
4 sliced lemons
2 oz. of cake yeast (the refrigerated kind)
48 oz. of raisins
Boil three gallons of water. Stir in the sugar and continue to stir to prevent sugar from caramelizing. Place apples and lemons in the crock. Pour sugar water over and let it cool to room temperature. Do not add the yeast until it has cooled or the hot water will kill the yeast. Crumble in the yeast and stir, stir, stir. Cover with just about anything — I’ve used a newspaper and a drum cymbal. Stir every morning for seven days. And on the seventh day, add the raisins. Then, no more stirring. Wait 20 days, then strain out fruit and residue and bottle. After bottling, it’s a good idea to let it sit for another week to allow additional residue to settle in the bottom of the bottle. Repeat straining (over a cheese cloth) and re-bottle. Enjoy!