Juicy the Giant Apple Bug at Lyda Farm, Hendersonville, NC
As you might have guessed, it was this hay bale critter — Juicy, the Giant Apple Bug — that caused us to pull off Chimney Rock Road in Hendersonville, North Carolina, and into Lyda Farms. And cute he is, don’t you think? But our eyes were on the prize: the stunning apple orchards we had heard about at the NC Apple Festival just the day before.
Stepp’s Orchard booth at NC Apple Festival 2016
Armed with a listing of Hendersonville NC Farm Markets, we headed out to see if we could find those yellow, green, and red juicy globes hanging on the trees. After all, we’d sampled just about every variety of apples grown in the area and washed it all down with apple cider, so it was just natural for us to want to see the source.
Walking through apple orchards at Lyda Farms
Just one of many orchards open during the NC Apple Festival, Lyda Farms offered us more than just a glimpse of apples in bags ready to take to our car. We asked first if we could see the orchards behind the farm stand, and, with their permission, we commenced to looking and photographing.
Beautiful reds, ripe for picking at Henderson Farms
Of course, those green varieties — Golden Delicious, Granny Smith, etc. — are mighty tasty. But for picture taking, we wanted to see the red ones hanging from the branches. We didn’t have to go far. Row after row of loaded trees greeted us, even though we’d heard from more than one vendor at the festival that temps and rainfall hadn’t been ideal this year.
We really couldn’t tell. To us, the baskets of apples were picture perfect.
Baskets of apples ready to carry home
If you go to one of the markets, take a look around. Sometimes bins filled to the brim are as interesting as the orchards themselves, like this wooden bin at Henderson Farms in Flat Rock, North Carolina.
Sorting apples at Henderson Farms, Hendersonville, NC
And then express your appreciation to all who heave-ho these big baskets for our eating pleasure!
Sorting apples at Lyda Farms
Farm markets are pretty much the same in that they offer a variety of goods — preserves, cider, fried pies, and the like. But you really can’t beat the crunchiness of one of nature’s favorite fruits — apples right off the tree!
Plain and simple: one of nature’s finest fruits.
To find orchards in your area (and some of them will let you pick apples yourself), go to any search engine for apple orchards or apple farm markets. Since we were headed to North Carolina, our favorite sites were these:
- Orange Pippin, North Carolina Orchards
- Hendersonville, North Carolina, apple orchards
- Blue Ridge Farm Direct Market Association
- Romantic Asheville, Apple Farm Orchards near Asheville
So, dig in. Find an orchard. Soak up the beauty. And crunch into something juicy and flavorful. Apples in the fall are soooo good.
–Bert and Rusha
Can’t beat this: apples right off the tree!
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hilarycustancegreen
Lovely pictures, it’s wonderful to see such a prolific harvest. We are picking our own apples now and one of our unnamed trees is delicious (another not so good!).
Oh, the Places We See
We bought a huge bag of these wonderful apples and ate all we could. Then gave some away. Now, I wish I were back in the orchard sampling them right from the trees. You’re lucky to have any!
tappjeanne
yummy – I can almost taste an apple pie in my future!!!
Oh, the Places We See
It would only make sense that if you bring home two bags of apples, you would at least have one pie, right? Well, no pies yet. But the apples are good right from the bag. Thanks for taking a look!
JudyinFrance
Those apples look delicious. I can’t believe how ripe they are already. My apples on my 1 tree look pathetic in comparison. Do they make apple juice too? Yum!
Oh, the Places We See
You pose an interesting question. Come to think of it, I never saw apple juice or applesauce — two childhood favorites. But lots of cider and pies. I wonder why they don’t serve juice. Hmmm.
freebutfun
The apple bug is lovely!
Oh, the Places We See
I agree! Love that bug or caterpillar or whatever it is. And it looks fairly easy to make, if you have farm stuff (which I don’t). Thanks for taking a look. And happy fall!
Amy
Apples, Love it! Changing season… 🙂
Oh, the Places We See
Oh, how I wish we were changing seasons here in Knoxville. Would you believe it’s still 90+ degrees here this afternoon? And we need rain! But I know fall will be here soon. The grocery stores already have mums parked out front! Hope your summer is ending well, Amy.
nikirath
Wow, looks delicious 🙂
Oh, the Places We See
We love fruit, so we eat a lot. And I’ll have to say these are some of the best apples ever! It sorta pains me to say that, though. I love East Tennessee apples, but these North Carolina varieties are mighty tasty! Thanks for taking a look!
dawnkinster
Beautiful! We have orchards here too and you remind me it’s time to get out there and enjoy them!
Oh, the Places We See
Dawn, I feel the same way. We even have one farm here that lets you pick whatever is ripe and ready. You call their number in the morning, and Dr. Fox, the owner, tells you what to look for! Isn’t it great to live where produce is plentiful?
ourfrenchoasis
I love walking through apple orchards, it takes me back to my childhood and picking them straight form the tree at home. I love the apple bug, how cool is that!
Oh, the Places We See
We loved strolling through the orchards, too. And there’s nothing like a just-picked piece of fruit! Loved that apple bug or caterpillar or whatever he is! Happy fall!