Apple picking and pears too

October 2, 5:36 PMBoston Community ExaminerCarolyn Kraut

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While fall seems to be a tentative affair at best what with temperatures going from 60 one day to 75 the next, its still apple and pear picking season. If you weren't spending all of your August weekends on the beach, you may have already visited some of the local farms to pick early arrivals like Jersey Mac, Gravenstein, or Puritan apples. Not to worry if you missed these or the varieties available in September like Gala, MacIntosh and Liberty, there will still be plenty of other varieties available for picking in October.

Ever heard of let alone eaten a Mutsu or Golden Ginger apple? If not, this could be your chance to learn about and taste these and other varieties not found in your local market. The chance to try a new kind of apple is one of the reasons for picking your own. If you're interested in picking a particular variety of apple, call ahead or check the orchard's web site to be sure they are ready to be harvested, otherwise select a farm, drive out and be surprised.

While there are no apple picking venues inside Rt 128, there are quite a few inside Rt 495. If you really want to make a day of it and pick several apple varieties, some pears, sample cider, and take advantage of family oriented activities, then consider going out to the Stow/Bolton/Harvard area where there are approximately a dozen farms open for picking. In Stow at Honey Pot Hill Orchards you can pick apples and, pears to go with them. Want a little beer or wine to go with your produce, or a nice meal? Consider visiting the Nashoba Valley Winery in Bolton where you can choose from over a dozen apple varieties, peaches and plums while they last, take a tasting tour of the winery and having worked up an appetite picking, enjoy a meal.

If you live in Boston and are looking for something closer than Bolton or you live north of the city, consider driving to Danvers. There you'll find Brooksby Farm where you can pick apples and visit a variety of farm animals. A short distance away you'll find Connors Farm where you can pick apples, enjoy apple cider and apple cider donuts, and relax on a hayride.
South of the city you'll find C.N Smith Farm and Singleton Orchards, both in East Bridgewater. Further west you'll find farms in Wrentham, Franklin, Holliston, Sherborn and South Natick.
For more information on apple picking in Boston - Apple Picking in Boston