Finally, learning how to pick pumpkins and apples at this many years old. Hehe!
Summer has come to a close. It’s now harvest time. The time of year, when we want sugar and spice and everything nice. Pumpkins and apple being at the top of the harvest list. We put our first pumpkin patch and apple orchard experience here in Indy on the calendar last Sunday. We choose Piney Acre Farm for our pumpkins fun this year.
Check out blog post–Scheduling Like A #Momboss. As these girls keep us pretty busy over here.
The summer was good to us and we ate lots of foods that we should not have eaten. And lots of foods that were fresh from the garden that simply tasted delicious. I took the time to learn how to pick the right fruits and veggies for the occasion. Be it, skewers or a fruit salad after some outside playtime. And of course the often family bar- b- que.
I’ve learned how to pick melon and my one true love pineapples. We also learned the difference in how to choose honey and other summer eats that we love so much. Like the Zucchini plucked from our neighbors garden and put right on the grill.
But how do you pick pumpkins and apples for all your sweet treats and crafting needs? We love to share the time together at the farm and this time we had a goal to reach. While picking apples for pies and caramel apples, strolling the pumpkin patch for the biggest carvable pumpkins and of course a good wagon ride. Which Piney Acres Farm has.
Piney also has funnel cake (which was my fav part), so yummy. The littles like the petting farm and looking at all the cool farm animals that we make sounds from at home. And of course all the fun things to play on.
We set out to answer questions like, is there a science to picking the right pumpkin or apple. How do I know if its good for the goal? I always just choose my favorite apple and the biggest pumpkin for carving.
When it comes to apples I had no insight, I just try to pick the bag of apples that don’t look brown. I feel like I now only learn how to pick things from videos as I scroll through the internet looking for nothing.
We really only get the pumpkin fill for a couple of months so we gotta dive right in while we have time. And to answer your question: Of course, it’s not too early for a pumpkin spice latte from Starbucks. ha!
Piney Acres Farm has alllllll the pumpkins! They also have an apple cannon (note all apples are for shooting) I know how that sounds, but make sure you stop in to see what I’m talking about.
Want to see it in action? Check out this IG post: Piney Acres Farms LOVE (make sure you swipe)
How we use pumpkins at our house
- Pie
- Carvings
- seeds
- We Paint them
- Decor
Did you know that you should choose different pumpkins for pies and carving? I thought all pumpkins were created equally and while I don’t really make pumpkin pie; I would have gone to the patch and picked any pumpkin for either.
How to pick a pumpkin for carving
- Tap for sound ( you want it to be a little hollow so its easy to cut through)
- Check the color ( you don’t want one thas discolored as that may mean that the pumpkin will spoil quickly)
- No bumps or bruises ( you want a pumpkin that hasn’t been all scratched up)
- Push-On The pumpkin ( you want to make sure there are no soft spots)
How to pick a pumpkins for pie
- Pick a smaller pumpkin ( They have high sugar content, go for 7-8lbs)
- Look for bruised and discoloration
- The name of the pumpkin may also give you a hint
- Theses are also good seed pumpkins
Lets talk apples! There are a variety of apples for apple pie and Caramel or candy apples! Some of my faves are red delicious and golden delicious for baked goods.
But, there is one apple that still remains supreme for apple pie. Granny Smith apples, they are sweet and sour absourb the sugary sweeteness well and make for a great apple for either confection your making for fall.
How to pick apples for the best apple pie:
- Make sure they are not bruised ( you dont want apples that are already going bad)
- Choose the apple based on your sweetneess level
- Touch apples for firmness as you want to make sure they are frim enough to cut and use for the cause.
Let’s talk local: Piney Acres Farm
If you’re looking for a fun outing for you and the family or if you’re looking to get your littles tired during the day; Piney is a great place to visit. They have so much to do and see on their sprawling grounds. Its beautiful perfect for all your fall pics.
They have a country store, petting zoo an AMAZING corn maze. But that’s not all, they have jumpers for the kiddos, rolling bins. Just to note again they dont have apples for you to pick you can purchase apples to shoot in the cannon and it is soooooo worth it.
Detroit Loves
For my Detroit family, you should totally check out the Franklin Cider Mill in Bloomfield Township. They have the best apple cider donuts that taste like LOVE with ice cream.
How do you pick your Pumpkins? Tell us we want to know!
Are you going to make an apple pie soon? Check out this recipe: APPLE PIE And if your looking for some out of the box apple dishes to make check out my FAV food blogger: Persnkiety Plates for some fun sweet treats to whip up.
The fall season brings so much for us to indulge in next up for us will be the apple orchard. Please shoot us a message with your favorite local Indy orchard. Also, what are some of your fav fall dishes I’m looking for some new things to add to our rotation this year.
Purposely,
The All Purpose Woman
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