Pick a Bushel...or not

My cute friend, Brooke, went on a little excursion to an apple orchard and I LOVED the idea.  So I copied her. Our weekends are always nutty crazy, so I took the kids out of school (minus busy Brayden) at lunch on Wednesday and off we went on our little field trip through the mountains to {not so grand but oh so quaint} 'ole Julian. 

I have really wanted to get back to my apple canning like I used to in Utah ever since we ran out about a year ago.  We go through them like they're going extinct!  Our tried and tested, no fail--gobble-it-up dinner, lunch, or breakfast is Hootenanny Pancakes (German Apple Pancakes).  Store-bought canned apples are insanely expensive and much too sugary anyway.  

When we arrived at the orchard I thought I was surely in the wrong place!  I had this grand picture in my head that we'd be meandering through the lush orchards picking larger-than-life, bright and shiny juicy apples from the overgrown, leafy green trees (ya know, like those in the east).  Not so much--we happened upon a hole-in-the-wall grove.... charming only by name {Raven Hill} with dusty, rotten-fruit-ridden pathways, and nearly barren dwarf trees.  

First stop---andy gump after our long ride.  That's an experience I want to forget--don't think it had been dumped in weeks, 90+ degrees weeks.  The orchard wasn't really what I had expected, but hey, we can't have it all here in SD!  The teepee in the distance and Indian chants we could hear were quite a charming bonus.  Scared the begeebies out of  the girls.  It didn't help, of course, that it was in the mid 90's and hotter than haites.  Have you ever smelled a plethora of rotting apples in 90 degrees?  Not exactly the whimsical touch I had hoped for after driving an hour & a half to get there.  BUT, the apples rock!  ...And that's what counts!  So yes, it was worth our little {far away} excursion.  

They're about the size of a small plum at their largest, but juicy delicious lip-smackin' good is about how I'd describe them.  Peeling these babies would take for-stinkin'-ever since they're dwarfs, so I think we'll forgo apple-canning greatness and consume these as delicious fall snacks.  It would have taken half a day to find a bushel of worm-less canning-worthy apples, so a couple of bags and $20 later... we were on our way in the wicked October heat.

We drove through Ramona---a little farm community with its own quaint charm.  On the way home we stopped {in Ramona} at Mountain Valley Ranch...a wonderful little ranch where the pumpkins grow on the vine...you just don't see that in San Diego - one of the things I miss about our Utah neighborhoods.  There were all sorts of family activities there--what a great little place to go pumpkin' pickin'!  The vines were nearly dried out, so most of the pumpkins had been picked and were in the barn, but it was a fun experience!  I think we have ourselves a fun family fall tradition!  I think I need apple tart or yummy pies are calling my name this weekend!