Pumpkin spice season is upon us! I repeat pumpkin spice season is upon us! This autumn, I am definitely looking to turn over a new (beautifully hued) leaf. I want to leave the last two years behind, and focus on the beauty of the season. The weather is not really cooperating with my fall, cozy-vibes. Unfortunately, Mother Nature did not get the memo, or she has decided to stay in summer mode a bit longer. For what it is worth, I’m grateful because it gives me a bit more time to plan my fall activities accordingly.
The Fall Harvest Hallmark movies are always my favorite. They portray beautiful towns painted in autumnal foliage. I can never get enough of the story lines, the wonderful Fall festivals, and the inevitable harvest. I live in Southern California where we grow and harvest lots of strawberries, but not apples.
Inspired by Hallmark movie Harvest Love, I wanted to immerse myself in one of Fall’s most beloved activities, harvest! In the movie Jen Lilley goes back to visit her family’s pear orchard/farm. She is an overbooked, over-stressed, and burnt-out single mom in need of a change. Who can resonate with being overworked and stressed? (Hand up.) In this movie she discovers the power of living a simpler life, opening up, and prioritizing her son and well-being.
I scoured the internet for an apple (or pear) orchard to begin instilling a bit of this Fall Hallmark magic into my relatively drab agenda. Sure enough, I struck gold! It was a bit of a drive, and it was in a city I had never heard of, Oak Glen.
Willow Brook Apple Farm dates back to 1910, and is a small family-run operation. The more I looked at all the happy images of ripe juicy apples, the more excited I became! I could picture myself searching for the perfect one, baking pies, wearing an apron, making cider cocktails, wearing boots……I could go on forever. My festive Fall thoughts took off running!
I made a plan to go the following Saturday with my fiancé, and make it a very seasonally on point-date. It was an hour drive from our house. Just when you think you are heading in the wrong direction; the GPS sends you off the freeway and up into a twisty mountain range that seems to just appear out of nowhere. I played songs by Carol King and James Taylor to get us in a dreamy mood, and I watched as with each turn the temperature seemed to drop a couple degrees.
We finally reached the farm. That was evident from the hustle and bustle of people parking, and other people returning to their cars carting bags of apples. Apparently, I had been the last to know about this magical slice of apple heaven. I could hardly contain myself. Here I am a grown woman, and I feel like a kid again, experiencing something so new and different. Thoughts of making this a new tradition flowed through my head, coming every year, and bringing our hypothetical children. Finally, we walked over to the entrance of Willow Brook, and took in all of the majestic trees. I had the urge to say to my fiancé, “Toto we aren’t in SoCal anymore!” I held my tongue. Too cliché. Just kidding I totally said it! It was worth the eyeroll! Country music played off in the distance. I observed all the happy families around me carting apples, eating BBQ, and cranking the out cider. I saw dads lifting little kids to reach the best apples at the top, and moms talking with eager children about what recipes they would make first with their harvest. Could it be? Had I entered an alternative Hallmark-universe?
We queued up at a line to begin our journey in apple heaven. A nice gentleman explained to us that this farm had been growing apples for 100 years, specifically the Stayman-Winesap apple. He gave us a brief tutorial on how to pick the apple, and how to know if the apple is ripe enough to pick. He directed us over to a couple orchards, and turned us loose. My fiancé, who didn’t seem that eager initially, discovered a tractor the farm was using for photo ops. He was like a kid in a toy shop, and couldn’t wait his turn to climb up and pretend to drive it. I snapped a few photos, and coaxed him down with the promise of returning later.
Off to the back was a tiny barn, accompanied by two tiny donkeys, Comet and Star. They were all too eager to receive some head scratches. If you gave them one of your apples, they might be your friends forever. I didn’t have any to give yet, so I just focused on the scratching. It wasn’t until I noticed they had a friend nearby, and then I completely fell in love. Delilah the baby pig. She was so soft and sweet. She just fell over on her side when I began to scratch her. I only had a certain amount of time with her, and didn’t want to overwhelm her. Parting was definitely sweet sorrow.
We headed over to our first tree. I selected my contender, and following the technique our guide taught us, I picked my first apple. My fiancé was next. We laughed, and he ate an apple fresh from the tree. I might have thrown one at him while he wasn’t looking…. By the time we were done we were giggling, and our bag was full of fresh apples. We proceeded to get in line to eat some BBQ. We selected the BBQ fries. They were amazing, covered in brisket and melted cheese.
The only possible way to work off those calories would be to make some cider, so we jumped in line! While waiting I noticed a stand to the side with caramel apples. I reached over and bought one for us to eat while we waited our turn. I have never enjoyed waiting in line so much, and it just meant we had a…. few more calories to burn.
The cider crank/press machine looked like something out of “Little House on the Prairie.” When we got to the front of the line we reached in to a barrel of preselected apples, and pulled out a basket full. As I cranked the machine, my fiancé would drop in the apples. It felt like such a unique experience. I had watched it happen in Fall Hallmark movies, people off in the background in pie contests, or making apple cider. I didn’t know what it entailed, but I’m so glad I was able to experience it.
After we finished making cider, we stopped inside the gift shop to pick up one of their handmade mini apple pies, because we would need dessert with tonight’s dinner. The lovely lady in the store asked if we were staying for s’mores and wine tasting. My fiancé and I looked at each other simultaneously, I said “Wine?!” He said, “S’mores?!” Of course, we stayed!
We sat around a small campfire in the back, where we roasted our marshmallows, and recanted what a nice day we had. I couldn’t remember the last time I had a s’more! After I finished the first one, I vowed never to go that long again without eating one. They are too, honest to God, good. The person that invented it was a genius.
After watching the sun begin to set, and finishing our last tasting, we headed home. All I could say was, what a blessing this day has been. I experienced something new, as a grown woman, and the day had been all around magical. My fiancé looked over at me in the car and said, “Where did you get the idea to do this?” I looked back at him and smiled, “Hallmark.”