Freshmen Fridays: Linvilla Apples
Halloween candy still stuck in your teeth? Try an apple. What better way to please your mouth post-Halloween than with hand-picked apples?
Linvilla Orchards, just 30 minutes south of Philadelphia, boasts an apple season through mid-November. The 300-acre farm was a beautiful (and admittedly, cliche) way to spend a recent Sunday afternoon.
Linvilla offers a broad range of activities, fun for college students and toddlers alike. For a couple of dollars, I grabbed a tall red flag and gave the corn maze a whirl. The flags, meant for helping parents watching from the top of the hill locate children, were a tad unnecessary. My advice is to skip the somewhat mundane maze and give apple archery a try instead. From the crest of the same hill, you can slingshot a pail full of overripe, bruised apples dozens of yards in the distance and attempt to hit any of the multiple fall-themed targets set up.
If you’re into pumpkins (who isn’t?), Linvilla has a huge display of the squash for sale in all shapes and sizes, right beside the enormous garden store. But, belly rumbling, I beelined for the farm store and food stands. The warehouse-sized farm store manages to feel quaint thanks to wooden shelving and mason jars galore. The Linvilla brand “Creamy Caramel Dip” is worth a try. Ignore the questionable ingredient list and dip your freshly-picked apples in the sticky-sweet, spreadable concoction. On the afternoon I went, I think I cleaned out their entire sample container. This stuff could rival Nutella.
The outdoor food stands offer hot dogs, fries, chicken nuggets, etc, or the more adventurous garlic wings or fried mushrooms. The kind couple sharing a picnic table with us offered us the rest of their butterfly chips–fresh fried potato chips sliced continuously to resemble a big, ruffled, golden-brown clump. The scent of funnel cake and apple cider donuts will inevitably woo you, but if you can’t handle dessert, grab a gourmet, chocolate-covered, caramel apple for the road.
The main hub at Linvilla was so lively on a fall weekend that we easily could have forgotten the apples. Even waiting in line for the port-a-potty was made more enjoyable by watching adorable toddlers, bundled to Pillsbury dough boy proportions, waddle around and fall down. But, don’t get too distracted from the main event. In November, you can pick-your-own Granny Smith, Gold Rush, Stayman Winesap, and Pink Lady apples. Try some of each. You can’t go wrong with any brand of hand-picked apple. Pay per pound, or fill a cardboard box over the brim for a set price (which, in the end, is a better deal). The boxes they supply are more of a pain to lug around than your typical reusable bag, but they make a good bucket for a game of apple-toss if you happen to get bored in the orchard.
Most importantly, don’t forget the key part of apple-picking. Pick a few, eat a few, pick a few, eat a few. After all, it’s fall.
Byrne Fahey