I’m excited to report that the fall apple picking season here in southern New Hampshire is quickly approaching full swing. Our neighbors across the street from the Inn at Alyson’s Orchard have officially opened their Pick-Your-Own operation for the 2015 season! Being early September you might not be thinking about apple picking quite yet, but for me it’s the perfect time to visit an orchard!
Alyson’s Orchard grows more than 50 varieties of apples including those that mature early to help extend the availability of fresh local fruit for as long as possible. Varieties already ripe for your tasting pleasure include Duchess of Oldenburg, Paula Red, Ginger Gold, and Sansa (one of my personal favorites!) with Macintosh and Honey Crisp varieties rumored to become available any day now. By visiting the orchard early in the apple season you not only get the benefit of taste-testing these great early varieties, but also an opportunity to take advantage of the tail end of the peach, nectarine and plum season as well.
Spending time in the orchard is a great outdoor activity for all ages as there are trails to walk, ponds, beautiful views, a farm stand, and pygmy goats to visit, and free wagon rides around the orchard on the weekends. Each week additional apple varieties will become ripe and available for picking so plan now to visit orchards as often as you can throughout the coming weeks so you can taste test as many different varieties as possible at their peak of freshness. You might just find a new favorite!
Don’t want or have time to pick-your-own fruit? Alyson’s Orchard farm stand stocks plenty of already picked fruit. The farm stand is open daily from 10am-6pm and is stocked with pumpkins, gourds, winter squash a variety of additional local products as well.
Or… for an extra special way to enjoy fall’s bounty, plan to stay overnight at our 1774 Inn and get pampered with our decadent three course farm-to-table candlelight breakfast. We incorporate as many of Alyson’s Orchard’s delectable apple varieties as possible in our daily fall breakfast menu including baked apples with our homemade apple cranberry granola, individual apple crisp with organic oatmeal and cinnamon, apple caramel coffee cake, scrumptious caramel apple French toast and more! Then walk to Alyson’s Orchard after breakfast to pick some apples to take home and enjoy. We hope to see you here on the farm soon and would love to hear what YOUR favorite apple variety is!