How 'Bout Them Apples?

Ashley & Brandon at the
apple orchard entrance

We took a road trip to Julian (about an hour east of San Diego) and meandered over to the Raven Hill Orchard to go apple picking.  Kevin had read about this place and checked out Yelp which had some decent reviews and led us to believe this may be an outing for the family and something new to try.  The kids were not overly excited at first, but once we got there, they were into it and loved the experience.

Brandon and I wore our University of Texas t-shirts in solidarity which seemed fitting for a Saturday during college football season, but it only confirmed to others that we weren't native to San Diego; need to think through that one a little more next time.

The interesting thing we all noticed was how small the apples were in size.  Apparently, because they are organic and pesticides are not used, they are smaller than those found in grocery stores.  The kids asked if they could try an apple to see what it tasted like and we obliged.  Turns out they were tasty and kept our energy levels and at $10/bag, we wanted to ensure we got our money's worth!

On the day we went, there were two types of apples to choose from - empire or granny smith.  We had hoped there would be more selection, but since Kevin and I are not the farmer-type, we didn't know apples were seasonal since in San Diego October is considered to be apple time.  We had primarily empire apples as the ones we selected and for change and wanting to sample, I picked two lone granny smith apples which were way too tart (even for me).

Picking the 'perfect' apples

The kids were determined to find the perfect apples and took their time selecting it before pulling it from the tree.  Since there were so many on the ground, we told them that if you picked it, you had to put it in your bag.

Ashley getting a lift from dad

Walking in between the rows of apple trees there were, by my rough count, probably 50 rows of apples with 50 apple trees on each row for about 2,500 trees.  It was rather peaceful and serene walking among the trees and the scenic view of the mountains in the back were night too.  Also saw a few random clouds coming in and out to cool us off.

Just one of the many rows of apples

We continued to walk around the orchard a little more even though it was getting hot and approaching about 95°.  Since we don't miss the Texas heat and humidity, we knew we needed to start heading home for the hour drive back to the coast and cooler temperatures.

Mission accomplished: 2 bags of apples!

Once we got home, we realized that we had a lot of apples and wanted to share some with our neighbors.  We also had to figure out something to do with them as we would not be eating this many for lunches and they would go bad.  So, what did we do?  Made mini-apple pies!  Donatella (our neighbor) came over and the kids went to work peeling, cutting, and dicing apples for a mini-apple pie.  Although the end result did not come out as well as planned, the kids had fun with this experience and asked if we could do it again.  Success!

(left to right): Brandon, Ashley, Donatella & Kevin
chopping apples and mixing cinnamon/sugar mixture