Since moving to Ontario I've tried being Ontarian. I've got my OHIP card, my Ontario drivers license, and my voter card, so for all intents and purposes, I am, but that's not really the same as being from here. My mission: Find out some Ontarian specific adventures and go on them.
Some of my lovely lady friends were into the idea of apple picking. Being from Alberta, I have never been to an apple orchard. (Trees? What are these 'tree' things? ;) ) It seems to be a very eastern Canada thing. Sold.
I did a bit of research (this site was really helpful) and found two orchards reasonably close to Toronto. I was surprised that some orchards charge entry fees so we found one that didn't: Pine Farms Orchard. (The entry fee later made sense as some orchards, like Chudleigh's, is entire day experience, with a petting zoo and restaurant etc. Some orchards even let you drive right in and up to the trees!)
Pine Farms was INSANLY busy. When we got there people were parking on the side of the road. Eventually police showed up to direct traffic. It was truly nuts busy. Unsurprisingly, on the lovely sunny sunday afternoon we went, the patrons were mostly families, young and old. My lovely lady friends and I wandered around a bit to get our bearings. There wasn't much signage as to what to do but we figured it out: Get a bag, pick apples, get them weighed at the main cabin, pay and away! So we hunted for some bags and got picking.
I had grand master plans for apple pie and apple butter and apple sauce so I needed about 22lbs of apples. They had Cortlands, Gala, McIntosh, Honey Crisp, and more ready for picking. Needless to say, I got picking and within a half hour I had "enough". (Turned out I don't know how much a pound of apples is.... specifically, I bought 40 lbs of apples... oops. Haha. Half-Assery Engaged!)
After the picking we decided to get our Impromptu Picnic on. Fresh and hot apple pie in tow, we sat and ate in amongst the trees in the sunshine. It was absolutely amazing. Afterwards, before the orchard closed, we wander walked around the back of the orchard. It was the perfect day. Highly recommend.
And now I've got all the apple posts to put up too! Stay tuned!
-Andrea
The Half-Assed Hobbyist
