I had a great time apple and raspberry picking in Oak Glen. Oak Glen is a small community of u-pick-it farms 80 miles due east of Los Angeles nestled at the foot of the San Bernardino Mountains. This year we went to Los Rios Rancho (last years we went to Riley's Family Farm). One of the biggest differences between the two is Los Rios Rancho has been purchased by the Nature Conservancy while Riley's Family Farm is owned by the Riley family which has been in Oak Glen over 100 years and owns most of the land in the area. One interesting character trait of the Riley Farm workers, and in the small town center, was the abundance of piercing blue eyes among the workers. I assume the reason for the abundance of blue eyes was because the Riley's owned most of the farms and land in Oak Glen. But who knows, maybe its the air. Oak Glen is a mile above sea level.
But getting back on track.
The first task when we arrived in Oak Glenn was finding my other family members who drove up earlier. Cell phones get poor, if any, reception up there. It's amazing how dependent we are on our cell phones. Compounding the problem was the fact that Los Rios has two separate ranches: one for picking fruit and another for the gift store, nature walk, picnic areas, food, etc. Fortunately, my mother drives a bright yellow SUV, so after cruising around a bit we spotted the SUV and the note she stuck in her windshield wiper.
It turns out different apple varieties are ready to harvest at different times in September and October. We were there during the earliest harvest, 9/1, which meant our choice of varieties to pick were only the Galas and Spartans. Of course being a military history buff, I was immediately drawn to the Spartans. I pictured Kind Leonidas eating his red apple as his Spartans buried the mountains of dead Persians in the background.
Okay, back to the trip.
So the Galas we learned are the sweet apples and the Spartans are a bit firmer and sour. This meant the Spartans were good for baking pies and the Galas for eating plain. (I baked a pie today with the Spartans and it was delicious!)
While apple picking was fun, my boys and I really enjoyed picking the raspberries. The fun was searching for the best raspberries. Picking out the good from the bad amongst the dozens of hedges. My boys were running everywhere yelling they found one or two or a whole bunch. And it seemed to take forever to pick enough raspberries to fill a little 16 oz. box. (That's a good thing.) Now I know why they're so expensive in the grocery stores.
From here we hopped back in the car and head down the road to the tourist trap area.
We had brought a picnic lunch, while the rest of my family purchased theirs from the restaurant. The prices weren't too bad. $9 for a tasty tri-tip sandwich. The nephew liked the hot dog. We all liked the cider, but no one liked the raspberry shake. Too many seeds and it tasted like it was made with yogurt not ice cream. There was s great picnic area and our kids had a great time rolling up and down the hill and climbing the trees.
We took the tractor ride and learned a little about the valley, apple varieties and how the Nature Conservancy has replanted some of the orchard and planted Sequoias. That's right Sequoias! Our driver didn't seem too pleased about it, pointing out that the awesome view from the farm will be blocked the new trees in a few years. He said the Conservancy was conducting a beautification project.
Hmmm. I have to agree with him. The view was amazing. Besides, one doesn't go apple picking to see a small stand of Sequoias.
There was also a petting zoo, cider pressing and lots of things one could buy in the gift store.
Somehow we avoided spending money on these other items, only to be suckered into paying the $5 per kid to go into the giant jumper/slide in the small town center on our way out.
When we asked the kids the next day what was their favorite part of the trip, they said the jumper.
Kids. You gotta love 'em.
But getting back on track.
The first task when we arrived in Oak Glenn was finding my other family members who drove up earlier. Cell phones get poor, if any, reception up there. It's amazing how dependent we are on our cell phones. Compounding the problem was the fact that Los Rios has two separate ranches: one for picking fruit and another for the gift store, nature walk, picnic areas, food, etc. Fortunately, my mother drives a bright yellow SUV, so after cruising around a bit we spotted the SUV and the note she stuck in her windshield wiper.
It turns out different apple varieties are ready to harvest at different times in September and October. We were there during the earliest harvest, 9/1, which meant our choice of varieties to pick were only the Galas and Spartans. Of course being a military history buff, I was immediately drawn to the Spartans. I pictured Kind Leonidas eating his red apple as his Spartans buried the mountains of dead Persians in the background.
Okay, back to the trip.
So the Galas we learned are the sweet apples and the Spartans are a bit firmer and sour. This meant the Spartans were good for baking pies and the Galas for eating plain. (I baked a pie today with the Spartans and it was delicious!)
While apple picking was fun, my boys and I really enjoyed picking the raspberries. The fun was searching for the best raspberries. Picking out the good from the bad amongst the dozens of hedges. My boys were running everywhere yelling they found one or two or a whole bunch. And it seemed to take forever to pick enough raspberries to fill a little 16 oz. box. (That's a good thing.) Now I know why they're so expensive in the grocery stores.
From here we hopped back in the car and head down the road to the tourist trap area.
We had brought a picnic lunch, while the rest of my family purchased theirs from the restaurant. The prices weren't too bad. $9 for a tasty tri-tip sandwich. The nephew liked the hot dog. We all liked the cider, but no one liked the raspberry shake. Too many seeds and it tasted like it was made with yogurt not ice cream. There was s great picnic area and our kids had a great time rolling up and down the hill and climbing the trees.
We took the tractor ride and learned a little about the valley, apple varieties and how the Nature Conservancy has replanted some of the orchard and planted Sequoias. That's right Sequoias! Our driver didn't seem too pleased about it, pointing out that the awesome view from the farm will be blocked the new trees in a few years. He said the Conservancy was conducting a beautification project.
Hmmm. I have to agree with him. The view was amazing. Besides, one doesn't go apple picking to see a small stand of Sequoias.
There was also a petting zoo, cider pressing and lots of things one could buy in the gift store.
Somehow we avoided spending money on these other items, only to be suckered into paying the $5 per kid to go into the giant jumper/slide in the small town center on our way out.
When we asked the kids the next day what was their favorite part of the trip, they said the jumper.
Kids. You gotta love 'em.
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