Apple And Pumpkin Picking Adventures Close To Home
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<strong>Queens County Farm Museum: </strong>Even if you don't have a car and a day off, there are apples and pumpkins just a leisurely subway/bus ride away. Tomorrow, the <a href="http://www.queensfarm.org/">Queens County Farm Museum</a> is hosting their Apple Festival, with fresh pressed cider, hayrides, and the world's largest apple cobbler. But the main draw is the pumpkins; on weekends through the entire month of October, you can pick-your-own pumpkins from their patch. Prices depend on pumpkin size. To get there from Manhattan, take the E train to Union Turnpike and transfer to the Q46 bus to 252nd Street.<p></p><em>73-50 Little Neck Parkway</em>
<strong>Apple Ridge Orchards</strong>: If you've got a day off during the week, this orchard is <a href="http://www.appleridgeorchards.com/">open for reservations</a> on Monday through Thursday, which could make it a fun party outing. If not, weekends they're open to the public from 9 a.m. until 6 p.m. For a group with a reservation, $9 per person lets you carry away 10 to 12 lbs of apples, plus a glass of cider and a cider doughnut. For the general public, it's $40 for two bags of apples, but we can say from an apple-sauce-making-experience that's more than enough for any apple-related projects you might be thinking of.
<strong>DuBois Farms:</strong> For those of you with a car (or a ZipCar membership), weekend day-trips can combine some Hudson Valley foliage viewing with apple picking. Located in Highland, NY, <a href="http://duboisfarms.com/">DuBois Farms</a> was voted the best year round pick-your-own in the mid-Hudson Valley, with pick-your-own apples and pumpkins on the 54-acre farm. They also have festivals going on every weekend in October, from the Harvest festival to their Halloween celebration. At their farm store, they sell everything from apple cider to locally made jams and sauces to cobbler mixes so you can get on that apple cobbler as soon as you get home.
<strong>Terhune Orchards:</strong> The <a href="http://www.terhuneorchards.com/index.html">Terhune home farm</a> offers every kind of pick your own, from apples at their Van Kirk farm to cut-your-own flower bouquets at about an hour and a half drive away from the city. Right now they say Early Fuji, McIntosh, Jonathan, Empire, Macoun and Red Delicious are all ready for picking, as well as jack-o-lantern pumpkins at their five-acre pumpkin patch. Through the end of October, they also have pick-your-own raspberries, which seem hard to find at most other apple orchards.