Harvesting Apples at U-Pick-It Farms

One of the benefits of living in the Midwest is being able to go to one of the many farms to pick your own apples at the end of the summer. We are fortunate that there are apple orchards close by where we can spend the afternoon harvesting apples from the trees. 

Normally our weather in late summer is hot during the day, so we always look at the upcoming weather forecast and try to choose a day that is cloudy or less hot.

A good way to find U-pick-it farms is to go to your local farmers market and ask another way is to watch your newspaper as there are sometimes ads. I recommend that you call the farm before you go. Find out if the apples are ready to be picked and if they prefer people coming on the weekdays or weekends. In the past, we drove an hour to a U-pick-it farm only to find out that they were out of apples.

Always dress properly for picking apples. I would recommend that you wear a comfortable long sleeve shirt and pants, hiking boots and socks are important and also a sun hat. Treat your clothing for an insect repellent that would include biting flies fleas and ticks.

Bring along bottled water and snacks. I like breakfast or protein bars, but if you are going to be out in the country you may want to bring along a fleece blanket for kids to use for an afternoon nap in the car or for putting down for a picnic lunch at the park or an open meadow.

Don’t forget your camera. Make happy memories with your family by spending the day in the country picking apples. These photos are great for scrapbooks and sharing on Facebook.

Pick enough apples for your favorite recipes for your family to enjoy throughout the fall season.

Here is a recipe for spiced apple chutney.

Fresh Apple Pie Recipe

My husband picked up a bushel of Gala apples from the organic food market and I thought I would make a homemade apple pie. My mother used to make from scratch apple pie when I was a kid and remember coring and peeling apples with her. Making fresh apple pie does take time, but one bite and you know that it is worth the effort.

Normally apples are harvested at the end of summer and you can put up the fruit for pies throughout the fall months. Apple filling can be used for many recipes; cobblers, turnovers, toppings for pancakes. You can also make applesauce or apple muffins. Growing up in Illinois we always had apples to be served throughout the fall season and were delighted if apple cranberry pie was served on Thanksgiving day.


For fresh apple pie, you will need to remove the skin from the apples, then slice away from the core. Cut the slices thin for a pie that will cook fast.
Instead of doing this job manually, you can buy at Walmart.com a Weston Apple Peeler Corer and Slicer. It is easy to use, saves on time and all you need to do is slice the apples for the pie filling.

You will need the following ingredients for one 9 inch apple pie.

5 medium fresh apples, peeled and sliced
½ a cup of brown sugar
1/3 cup of granulated sugar
1 teaspoon of cinnamon
2 tablespoons flour
9-inch pie dish

Here is the pie filling recipe

In a large mixing bowl add the sliced apples, then the brown sugar, and mix with a spoon. Then add the granulated sugar, cinnamon, and flour. Mix again so that there is a coating of all ingredients on the apples. Let the apple slices set for 15 minutes.


Turn the fresh apple pie filling into your pie crust, spread out the apples so that they fill in the crust evenly. A mound of apples in the center is okay. Top the apples with another pie crust and pinch the lower crust into the upper crust on the sides. Seal the sides well so the juices do not come out the sides when baking.


Use a cold knife to make slits in the upper pie crust. This will allow the steam from the pie to escape. Melt 1-1/2 tablespoons of butter and then drizzle it over the top pie crust. Then drizzle 2 tablespoons of sugar over the butter.

Bake pie at 400’F for 30 minutes, then lower the heat to 350’F and bake 30 more minutes. The pie is done when the apples are tender. Let pie cool completely before serving.

Slice and serve with a scoop of Bryers homemade natural vanilla ice-cream, know that it is hard to eat one slice of homemade apple pie.

Learn how to make delicious pie crust here 

Learn how to peel and core apples / FAST

Elderberry Apple Pie Recipe

In the fall when the weather turns cool I enjoy baking fresh berry and fruit pies.  One of my favorite pies is apple elderberry.  This recipe is not one you are going to find at your weekly recipe meet  because I came up with it because my husband likes apple pie and I like elderberry so I mixed the fruit so we both had a pie we would enjoy.

I grow elderberries in my yard for the birds but always take from the bush for my autumn recipes.  In august I harvested elderberries by cutting off the dark blue black clusters with my garden scissor and then I put the berry cluster in a colander to wash off before freezing.  

Fresh elderberries are messy; the juice stains and is nearly impossible to get out so I always freeze before using.  When I back with elderberries I always add them to recipe when they are frozen.

Gather ingredients for pie recipe:

2 Cups of fresh elderberries (I use fresh berries that I froze)
4 Cups of peeled, cored and apples
3 Tablespoons of all purpose flour
½ Teaspoon of cinnamon
1 Cup granulated sugar
2 Tablespoons of salt free butter
2- 9 Inch pie crust

Here is the recipe for elderberry-apple pie:

Add the apples, flour, and sugar to the bowl and mix all ingredients. Then add the frozen elderberries and mix gently to avoid breaking the berries.

Line your pie plate with the pie crust and then pour the apple and elderberry filling into the crust. Top the pie filling with the second pie crust and pinch the top and bottom crusts together. Use a fork to create steam release holes in the top of the crust. Then pat the crust with the butter.

Your oven should be preheated to 450 degrees Fahrenheit and oven rack should be put in the center.

Bake your pie at 450 for ten minutes and then turn the heat down to 400 and bake pie for one hour.

Test to see if the pie is done by inserting a toothpick in the center if the toothpick comes out clean then the pie is done.

Let pie cool before serving then garnish the pie with freshly whipped cream or a scoop of vanilla ice cream .  My husband enjoys his pie with Andy’s frozen vanilla custard.  It sure is good and is the perfect ending for a autumn day.