Lyman Orchards! This wonderful place is in Middlefield, CT about 40 minutes from us. Aaron really wanted to go apple picking, but there was so much more than just apples. We got there around 11:00 and started our day in the corn maze. What did we learn.... Jill is a freakishly obsessive control freak. We were in the maze 2 minutes before we were fighting because Aaron wanted to run in it, get lost, then find the way out while I wanted to play the game (you answer questions as you go and they tell you which way to go and then there are some trivia facts and cornundrums that if you answer all of them correctly you can win a prize). We quickly agreed if we wanted to have a good day and any fun at all it was best to let me in charge b/c otherwise they were going to have to send the corn cops in for us and I was going to hyperventilate. Yes I am embarrassed to admit this, but Aaron teased me all day that this was going in the blog b/c I always share his embarrassing moments. We spent the rest of the day laughing about what a control freak I am and how it is a good thing we went just the 2 of us. The corn maze was a lot of fun and well worth the $20 it cost for the 2 of us to enter. Next we went to the Lyman Orchard's Apple Barrel, which is their country store/restaurant. We had wonderful deli sandwiches before heading to the orchard for some picking. We sat on the porch overlooking the lake and admired their bee traps that were full of yellow jackets. Next we drove around the homestead and golf course on the way to the actual orchard where we made 3 separate stops to pick different fruits. We started with apples, and noticed every few trees in the row was one with these little (cherry sized) pink apples that we had never seen before. We taste one that had fallen on the ground and realized they are in fact apples and are very yummy so we picked a couple handfuls. Later we found out that these are a type of crab apple that is planted for the bees and are not for sale (they let you have them for free and dont care that you pick them). We also picked ginger gold apples and gala apples. Aaron decided he doesn't like jenomic apples or mac's. Next we picked peaches. There were 2 varieties that we saw and Aaron did not like the red skin ones so he picked the second kind which he said was just ok (hartcrest). Then we were off to the pairs, we picked two types of asian pears that were excellent! Aaron didn't like the bosc so we skipped those. You may be wondering why Im only sharing Aaron's opinions on the fruit, well to be honest Im not much of a fresh fruit person. I like my apples in pie, and my peaches and pears from the can. Im more of a berry/melon person myself. We came home with 8 apples, 8 peaches, 8 pears, and a bunch of those little crab apples (which are probably the only thing I will eat).
After picking we went back to the apple barrel for some cider donuts and apple cider. We were sad to hear that the cider is not made on site. After an E-coli outbreak a few years ago in cider crops the government required farmers to pasteurize their cider, so Lyman Orchard's sends their apples off site to be pressed and the cider to be prepared. We then set out for home, exhausted but both in agreement that Lyman Orchards is on of the most beautiful places we have ever seen and well worth at least an annual visit and it made missing our camping trip worthwhile as well.
http://www.lymanorchards.com/
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