Bellewood Acres

Samuel had his first ever field trip today with his preschool. Ellie and I got to come along. We went to Bellewood Acres Apple Farm. When we arrived our tour guide told all of the children that they will be treated like apples that have just been picked off of the tree. They will be taken through the process as if they were apples.

First the apples are picked and put into big crates. From the crates they go to an apple bath and polisher, then from a conveyer belt they are directed to four different sections according to their size. The workers then inspect every apple to decide weather they are pretty enough to be 1st apples, and shipped to the grocery stores or 2nd apples to be sold at the farm. Any of the children who were willing were stickered as 1st apples.

The kids got to try on the picker's carrier although they were swimming in it.

Then we went on a "wagon" ride down into the orchard to see the pickers in action.

Sweet Jeremiah was being a great sport.

Each child got to pick their own apple. I think they were supposed to save them and put them in bags to take home but all of the kids ate them.

At the end of our tour we tasted 4 different apples. Our favorite was still honeycrisp. Jeremiah even tried one. He was pretty upset when April took it away. Sucking on it just didn't cut it for him.

Random tidbits: Did you know that there are 7000 kinds of apples? Bellewood currently has 16 and will have 18 next year.

Did you know it takes 20 years to cultivate a new apple type?

If the weather gets to cold for heaters to be effective they mist the apples enough to create an ice jacket which insulates the apples.