US East Coast 2018: Of Bushels & Pecks - An Adventure with Apples

We got up bright and early and headed over to Showalter’s Orchard and Greenhouse. It was a bright sunny weekend morning, and a great time for apple picking! When we got to the orchard we were delighted to see rows upon rows of apple trees, each one laden with large, juicy apples. We hurried to get our little bags and decided to pick one peck of apples. Pecks and bushels are apparently imperial units of measurement for dry volume measurement and used especially for apples and other fruits - 1 peck is approximately 10-12 pounds (5 kilograms), or 32 medium apples, or 3-4 9 inch pies. As for 1 bushel, it is equal to 4 pecks.

It was Golden Delicious and Stayman that were available for picking today, and we headed straight to the apple trees, picking and tasting the apples before choosing the really delicious ones from the trees. We learnt that there is a specific way to pick apples. You do not simply yank them off the tree with brute force, but instead hold each apple in the palm of your hand, using your thumb and index finger to gently twist it and remove it from the branch, taking care to ensure that other apples are not affected.

Carefully selecting an apple tree and choosing the right apple.

An apple in the hand... I don't normally like to eat apples, but nothing beats a freshly harvested Golden Delicious!

We had a wonderful time, and learnt that Golden Delicious lives up to its name, and although it’s a lime green apple, it is especially sweet and crisp, and an excellent eating apple. The boys and I especially loved this apple. As for the Staymans, they were especially red and looked really delicious, however we discovered that they are actually tart and are used more often for baking. Sue however enjoyed the Staymans just as they are, and we all had a good time sharing about why we liked apples.

The gorgeous Stayman apple. Big on colour, but a tad tart on taste.

Fruits of our labour!

It was already lunch time, and we took out our picnic food, which we enjoyed with sweet apple cider, apple donuts and apple dumpling. Sue and I also had a cider tasting (from the Old Hill Hard Cider cidery), which was an experience on its own - complete with tasting notes detailing each drink. I particularly enjoyed the “Season’s Finish” cider, which was reminiscent of Ice Wine but less sweet and more intense with the rich flavour of apples in fall.

Settling down for some apple cider tasting, a most enjoyable experience!

Sweet desserts - finishing off with delicious apple donuts.

The Previous Page - Just the Way Things Were. Read here.
What's Next? The Tides of War. Read here.

From the Beginning - Start reading the record pages of our US East Coast Travel Adventure here.

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