As the summer months wind down, we try to pack in all our favorite summer activities. It is also time to start planning for things that we might want to do over the next month or two. One thing I always planned on with my family was an apple picking trip. Dutchess County has a large number of apple orchards that offer a bounty of various apples including red delicious, empires, golden delicious, Macintosh and many more. 

Apparently the unusually warm temperatures have ripened the fruit earlier this year, by about 2 weeks, and some orchards are open for picking now like Fishkill Farms located in Wiccopee. You might ask, “Where in the heck is Wiccopee?”, but don’t worry it’s real easy to find… just off Interstate 84.

Of course there are numerous orchards to choose from throughout the county. NYAppleCountry.com is a great resource which has tons of helpful information. According to their fast facts – New York State is number 2 in the country for largest apple production.

Most orchards offer other goodies like homemade donuts and pies, cider, other fruits (peaches, blueberries, etc.) and vegetables. Once you worked up an appetite from picking your bushels of apples, you can fill up on all the yummy other foods.

So make sure that you look at your upcoming schedule and don’t miss out on the delicious fun!

Oh, and by the way, if you want to learn how to make a yummy apple pie, check out the video below!

Posted by:  Debbie Allan