Autumn often stands as the most popular of the four seasons, with 29% of Americans naming it as their most preferred season. The American football season and the cooler temperatures may be large factors in this trend, but the overall vibe of autumn can also add to its appeal and popularity. Autumn leaves, fall fashion such as scarves and plaid, Thanksgiving and Halloween, and harvests can make autumn a beautiful season. This also includes popular foods, with apples and pumpkins prominent among them. In the countryside, an apple farm or pumpkin patch can not only be business for farmers, but a day vacation for adults and great fun for kids, who may love to pick fruit at an apple farm’s orchards and choose a pumpkin to take home and carve.
Apple Farms and Pumpkin Patches For the Dinner Table
Apples and especially pumpkins can make for rustic decorations during autumn, but they are also edible and popular as dessert items. Pies, for example, are a common route for both of these plants. In fact, among all pies eaten, people have named apple pie as their favorite at 47%, pumpkin pie at 37%, and in third place, chocolate cream pie at 32%. Pumpkin pie is particularly popular around Thanksgiving, being a staple dessert for that American holiday, and apple pie can be a cool, sweet treat in summer and autumn alike. And apple farms have plenty of variety to offer: there are some 2,500 varieties of apples grown in the United States alone, and worldwide, 7,500 different varieties can be found. The biggest apple on record was a Hokuto apple grown in Hirosaki City in Japan that weighed 4lbs, 1 oz. Pumpkins, meanwhile, are commonly planted between May and June and are harvested in autumn, and can weigh anywhere from under a pound to 1,000 pounds, and these fruits are about 90% water, making them ideal for pie. Roasted pumpkin seeds are another common snack, and they may be salted before eating.
Decoration and Activities
An apple farm or pumpkin patch can make for a great outdoor attraction for a fair or similar event, but that is not the only route to take with these plants. Weddings are common in summer and autumn, and in the latter case, pumpkins, along with other plants such as gourds, apples, and oranges, can make for rustic, natural decoration at a wedding reception or ceremony, whether the wedding is actually at a rural setting or an urban one. These decorations can be cheaper if they are in season, and even in a city wedding such as in New York or Portland, if the couple wants a rustic theme, pumpkins and apples can easily contribute. Other rustic designs such as strings of white lights, sunflowers, white painted wood, wheelbarrows, and bouquets in glass jars can complete the theme alongside the vegetable displays.
At a fair or similar event, fall activities nearly always include apple orchards and pumpkin patches along with other farm activities, and can give kids exercise, fresh air, and most of all, hand picked pumpkins and apples to take home to bake into pies, carved into jack o lanterns, or used as decoration. Pumpkin picking is easy, requiring only finding an appealing, healthy pumpkin and cutting it loose at the stem. Often, only a few inches of the stem will be left on the chosen pumpkin. And at the apple farm, apples can, like pumpkins, be made into pies or decorations. Other desserts such as apple fritters, apple donuts, and more can be made from these fruits.