fall,  fashion,  outdoors,  travel

Flower and Apple Picking in Ellijay, GA

September 22, 2021 /

While enjoying a weekend in Ellijay, GA with my family as well as my brother and his family, we decided to go apple picking at the orchard we usually visit, R&A Orchards. When we arrived we were told that there would be only one kind of apple to pick (there are usually 4 or 5 different ones you can pick) because a late frost in April had affected the trees and 60% of the future crop was lost. To offset some of the loss, the orchard created a U pick flower area with zinnias, wildflowers and earlier some sunflowers.

We chose to pick two cups of flowers: you could fill a cup for $8.25. I think we enjoyed this even better than picking the apples. Everyone helped choose flowers and cut them. There was a nice variety of colors and I love the bouquets I created at the house with them. I have learned a little on how to cut them and add them to different shape and size vases from others on instagram.

We took lots of pictures which reminds me that I need to create a couple of photo albums as well as add pictures to my digital frame in the living room. That was one of my favorites birthday gifts ever. I love photos for the memories they bring to mind and a digital frame with a slide show of our trips is just plain wonderful.

We carried our lunch (a wagon brought us to the flower field then the apple orchard) but I just realized we could have left those backpacks and loaf by the stand while we picked our flowers! Glad I wore longer pants to keep the bugs from biting me and my French blouse (shared here and here) brings back special memories each time I wear it.

After impatiently waiting for our wagon ride up to the orchards (it got busy and it took 3 before there was enough space for us), we ate our lunch in the shade before picking a peck of apples. I am always surprised at how many apples fit in the bag. This time we grabbed a lot of smaller once as they will make great little snacks.

These are Rome Beauties. We enjoy their crisp and juicy flavor. I think my 7 year old enjoyed picking apples the most. They will enjoy the different snacks we will create but I think we will eat half of them just so.

Couldn’t eat them right off the tree but my husband washed and shined a couple for the boys to munch on. The little ones were the perfect size for a small snack. The boys favorite snack with apples is “brown apples”: cook apples with butter, brown sugar and cinnamon until they are soft.

I enjoy these types of adventures but I will say that lately I am noticing that I get short tempered very quickly if the weather makes me uncomfortable and if there is whining involved. I am definitely ready for cooler weather! I am finding it difficult to find the right balance in everything in my life but balance is really the key to me for contentment! Structure but also spontaneity, work but relaxation too, time with kids and time without kids, etc.

I am looking forward to hikes this fall but I think that I will alternate my hikes this year with bringing the boys along and letting them play at home. And I need to figure out when I can have a quick time with my coffee on the patio in the mornings: I might have to wait till after school drop of to enjoy my cup but it will be worth it to enjoy the weather and peace.

What is there to pick in your area? I haven’t gone blueberry picking in years and have never gone peach picking. We picked sunflowers last year and we sometimes go pick pumpkins at the pumpkin patch.

A bientôt!

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26 Comments

  • Joanne

    September 22, 2021 at 7:36 am

    This time of year most orchards have apples for picking. Blueberries, strawberries, and peaches were earlier in the summer. Fall usually finds us picking apples and maybe pumpkins. Though my boys don’t really enjoy picking apples nearly as much as they used to so we often just pop in to buy some bags of ready picked and add in some of the extras like caramel apples, fresh picked corn, and fresh cider.

  • Ellie

    September 22, 2021 at 9:15 am

    I too would totally enjoy flower picking!! Our favorite apple orchard has lots of Zinnias growing as well but not for picking, but I always enjoy all the butterflies around them. So this year I sowed my own zinnia seeds and they attracted lots of butterflies and even the hummingbirds loved them! Will sow more next year! Such pretty flowers and they are still blooming right now.

    Sorry to hear your orchard didn’t have a good turnout with the apples, there are plenty here this year, lots of variety but I always want to pick only Johnathans because they are my favorites and the rest of the family doesn’t care about which ones we get.

    Fabulous outfit! Love the sleeves and such a gorgeous shade of yellow!
    Ellie
    Ellibelle’s Corner

  • Leslie Susan Clingan

    September 22, 2021 at 11:23 am

    Our poor peach tree was nipped by a late frost, too. Not a single peach this year. So sad. These apples are gorgeous. So large. I am a green apple gal but PC likes gala and pink lady apples, both red. I bet these would be scrumptious in a cobbler or pie.

    Love the flowers. I would enjoy picking them more than the apples, too. Wondered what you meant by $8.25 a cup until I saw the large cup you had filled. That baby boy holding the bouquet is about as cute as it comes. Love your warm yellow top and big smile in the last pic.

    We only have pumpkins to pick, as far as I know. Maybe pistachios. And peaches, when we don’t have frost.

    • mimifce

      September 22, 2021 at 4:03 pm

      I am planning to have my husband make an apple cobbler on the grill this weekend. He has made it a few times. You could fill the cups as much as you could so that was only half way full!

  • Veronica Cooke

    September 22, 2021 at 12:41 pm

    What a lovely way to spend time with family! The flowers looked gorgeous and the little boy holding them looked very pleased with himself. I’ve taken my soin and daughter (now both in their 40s) strawberry picking when they were younger and for years I have taken all 3 grandsons (now 26,16 and 11 years old) blackberry picking when they were younger. They are all too old to do it now but this year I’d like to pick sloes to make sloe gin or vodka and elderberries to make elderberry cordial. I’ll have to go by myself…

    I loved your yellow stripey top – very summery and it looked very cool with the jeans.
    xx

    • mimifce

      September 22, 2021 at 4:02 pm

      Thanks, Veronica! We have been strawberry picking in a few years and this year I did not want to fight the thorn bushes in our backyard to get to our wild blackberry bushes. Maybe next year!

  • Nancy

    September 22, 2021 at 1:45 pm

    What a gorgeous flowers, those colors are so beautiful. Apples from the tree straight away, are so much better then to buy from the supermarket.

  • jodie filogomo

    September 22, 2021 at 8:29 pm

    I love that they compensated the lack of apples with flowers. Now that’s good customer service.
    I don’t know if you remember when we went apple picking here in Arizona, but the apples and trees were SO barren compared to yours!! The desert just isn’t the place to grow apples!!
    XOOX
    Jodie
    http://www.jtouchofstyle.com

  • Marsha Banks

    September 22, 2021 at 10:48 pm

    When my kids were little, we used to go to a favorite apple orchard which had been owned by the same family for generations. Our favorite was Red Delicious. For some reason, economics, I’m sure, they sold the orchard. Where we live now is a huge business type orchard, but they don’t carry Red Delicious apples. I’m not even sure most of the stuff thet well there is grown there. That’s unfortunate to me as I want to support a local business. I’ve gone blueberry picking exactly once! It was too hot! My kids didn’t want to be there either…this, of course, was years ago!

    Finding a balance is difficult when you have children still at home. At least, it always was for me. I began teaching when my youngest was in kindergarten. So, I had to add in the school preparation things when trying to create family time. I think you do an amazing job of creating that balance!

    • mimifce

      September 23, 2021 at 9:23 pm

      I do like to support local businesses. I have been going more to our little downtown shops to shop this past year.

  • Bojana Krienke

    September 23, 2021 at 8:53 am

    How fun!!! When I was young, right before we came to Canada, we were in an orchard and I loved it. Here there are no orchards but we do a corn maze every year with the kids, even now that they are much older. That’s too bad about their harvest. Our farmers had an awful crop this year, the worst in decades, because the wearther was so different this year. No rain when we needed it. Anyway, the flowers are gorgeous and who wouldn’t want to bring that home to set on the table. I need balance too. For some reason I feel like my hours in a day just keep getting away from me. One would think that now that they kids aren’t so little, I would have more time but what happens is you keep on adding stuff to the plate and I love all the stuff! I could use some balance tips.

    bosbodaciousblog.blogspot.ca

  • Laura Bambrick

    September 23, 2021 at 9:58 pm

    FLower picking sounds like so much fun! We are hoping to go apple picking here soon. There are a fair amount of orchards around. Our neighbor has some pear trees they let us pick from and cherry picking and strawberry and raspberry picking are common around here too!

  • Amy

    September 25, 2021 at 9:15 am

    How fun! I’ve never picket apples before. The pictures are gorgeous. HOw sad that they lost so many of their crops due to a late frost.

    • mimifce

      September 25, 2021 at 10:30 am

      Really? I have picked cherries as a kids, and we have done blueberries and wild blackberries and grapes. Would love to do peaches one day.