The Apple Orchard – Hamilton
We decided to go pick some apples before the season got over and before the summer heat died. It was a random decision we made after a colleague of my husband suggested that he visit an apple farm located in Hamilton, Ontario. We decided to go on a Saturday. It was rainy and there was scattered rains. We thought twice before heading out, but we had made up our minds. We kept our umbrellas handy. We got some McDonald’s coffee and began our drive to Hamilton to visit The Apple Orchard. It was almost an hour worth of drive for us. It rained pretty hard on the way. It was a pretty scenic drive to our destination. While driving into the parking lot which was a grassy area, we didn’t see a lot of cars. The reason became pretty obvious; it was raining hard at this point. What made me beam with smile was something I’ve wanted to see forever, but never got a chance in my life. It was a field of sunflowers! I was so excited to run into the field and take some beautiful photos.
I decided I would patiently till the rain died, or at least went to a drizzle form. We got out, took our umbrellas, and heading to the shed, where we saw the staff standing. We received a warm welcome, ah, such good and kind people. I totally forgot the name of the older guy, but I’m going to name him Joe, since I’ve to refer to him a few times in this blog. Joe suggested we wait in the shed till the rain slowed a bit. He explained there were about 38 varieties of apple trees in the farm and gave us a slice of Ginger Gold and Macs that were ready for picking. I really like the Ginger Gold. It had a fusion of flavors and the skin wasn’t too thick. He said I could store the Ginger Golds up to 3 months in the refrigerator. He informed that it was only the second year the farm was open to the public and that the trees were small. He said we could get roasted corn on the farm and also showed a collection of maple syrup bottles for sale. He mentioned it was $1.50 (if I remember correctly) per pound of apple. We paid the entry fee of $4.50 per person and waited in the shed till the rain stopped, at least temporarily. We also got a pretty sturdy plastic bag to collect our apples. The moment it stopped, we went to take a closer look at the sunflowers. The flowers weren’t facing up since it was cloudy. Joe offered to take our pictures. What a gentleman! Once my eyes devoured their beauty, we decided to walk to the orchard. The rain started to drizzle again. The farm spanned over acres of land I assume. There were directions leading to the trees which were ready for picking. I also want to mention that the orchard was empty while we were there. I guess people didn’t want to come out since it was a rainy day. We basically had the whole place to ourselves. We took pictures, ate a few apples, and started picking. We wandered around here and there and saw there were pear trees as well. They weren’t ready for picking yet. Almost an hour into our picking, we had some company. My worst enemy, the mosquitoes! I kept moving around so that they wouldn’t stick to me. My husband took a walk around the corn maze as well. At this point, I was swatting away the mosquitoes with my umbrella. I wanted to get out of the orchard. Arghhhh!!
We walked away from the apple trees towards the entrance of the farm. We decided to have some roasted corn. Yumm, roasted corn with butter sounded perfect for a rainy day. It was a little chilly as well. We got our corns, coated with butter, and with a sprinkle of salt and pepper. We ate them near a few fire pits. The smell of charcoal, wet grass, and what I thought was some kind of a mild sweet nectar scent was in the air. I was happy and content.
The weather seemed to get better I think. The rain stopped and maybe I was imagining. I saw the sun coming through ever so slightly. We went back to Joe and weighed our apple bag. We said our goodbyes and headed back home. I recommend this place to everyone!
