Apple picking time at Hubbard's Corey Lake Orchard
Andrew Norton
UPDATE: I created a new page with a rather comprehensive listing of Michigan Corn Mazes and Michigan Apple Orchards - Michigan Fall Colors. We stopped by Hubbard's Corey Lake Orchard on our way home from church yesterday to pick up some fresh veggies and we were pleasantly surprised to find a few early varieties of apples for sale. Gala, Jonamac, and everybody's favorite Honeycrisp. We picked up a bag of the Gala apples with the promise that we would definitely (and we will) be back to do some picking.
It's only $8 a bushel (that's a lot of apples, folks) to pick your own and if you've never been apple picking - you should. For three quick reasons - 1) It's a great family outing, 2) Isn't it nice to know exactly where your produce is coming from and 3) That you're supporting local farmers.
One thing to note, I think it is $12 (or more) a bushel to pick the Honeycrisp apples. Plus, they don't have as many Honeycrisp apple trees so if you snooze you lose. In other words, he who hesitates will miss out on the Honeycrisps.
We've been picking our apples there for the last few years and it's just a lot of fun for us and the kids. The Gala apples are nice because they are so versatile. They make excellent apple sauce (my wife's homemade apple sauce is THE best), pies, apple crisp, apple butter, and for just plain eating as well.