October 18, 2018

Apple Picking in Southern California

One if the things that I miss the most about New England is fall. There is just something so magical about the leaves changing colors and the air becoming cool and crisp. While the weather in Southern California may not feel very fall-like Henri and I make the effort every year to drive up to Yucaipa for apple picking and some general fall, family fun!

We’ve tried out a couple different orchards over the years and the one we chose this year, Los Rios Rancho, was far and away my favorite, it’s going to be our go-to from now on. We went fairly late in the apple picking season (for California) and they still had plenty of apples to pick. In no time we had picked 4 pounds of Granny Smith and Arkansas Black apples.

I really loved that the trees had apples that were low enough for Lavinia to pick some all by herself! Every time she was able to pick one off the tree she was so proud!

After we had picked our fill of apples we headed across the street to check out Little Seedling Ranch, a kid friendly area where you could pet and feed animals, play games, check out a little farmhouse and do a hay bale maze. Liv was infatuated with the goats from the other side of the fence but once we went inside the pen she was nervous to pet them, her favorite was playing with the bunnies and watching the horses pulling the hayrides.

We can’t drive all the way to Yucaipa and leave without having some mini-cider donuts and apple cider so stop #2 of the day was Snowline Orchard! Henri and I discovered this place when we were in college and make sure to include it in our apple picking adventures each year. They don’t have U-pick apples here but they do have warm cider donuts which are clearly amazing since the line always takes 30-45 minutes at least! We typically bring a little picnic and enjoy it on the lawn before we get in line for the good stuff! I also buy a bag of Macintosh apples and a gallon of their cider every year – we were there just a week and a half ago but in that time Liv and I have polished off the 5 pounds bag of Macintosh!