Beautiful, useful and free family days out - Cider Apple picking
Cider Apple Picking – what’s your picking personality?
What could be more quintessentially English, quintessentially West Country than a day of cider apple picking? Number 1 son and I were invited along to a friend’s orchard to do just this last weekend. The sun smiled beautifully on us and we had a wonderful time fruit picking.
It has to be said that the children did a limited amount of picking but amused themselves admirably with a game they’d designed themselves named ‘Apple Invaders’ fortunately it didn’t involve too many apples. On the other hand we adults had our hands seriously to the plough.
We discovered that there were a few apple picking personalities in existence. There was the ‘free and easy apple picker’ this personality roamed around freely taking from a number of different trees, easily bored after taking a few from one they moved on to the next. Then there was the ‘obsessional apple picker’ who focussed on one tree, was absolutely determined to strip it of every last apple come what may. I surprised myself by appearing in this particular category. Finally there was the ‘glory seeking apple picker’ this personality roamed around looking for the trees that obsessionals were doing and picked the last few apples in order to gain the glory for finishing the tree!!!
Don’t worry though, it was all good fun. I also surprised myself (in my new obsessional apple picking personality) that I was so determined to reach some apples that (with a bit of coaching) I found myself climbing a couple of trees. It is more years than I can remember when I last did that.
Our quintessential apple picking day was topped by quiche, lemon cake and cider out of a wicker picnic basket no less. Glorious!
It’s that wonderful harvesting time of year, amazing for the children to get involved in country life. Is there anywhere near you that would love some of your donated labour?
