Going apple picking/pumpkin choosing
Today, Jonny and Vincent were going to go to Erica's family farm to pick apples. Erica's grandfather owned an apple orchard in addition to cows and other farm animals so after breakfast with the woman in question, they were off.
"Erica?"
"Yes sweetie?"
"Whassa farm like?"
"Well, a farm is where you grow lots of food. My grandpa grows apples and he raises cows, chickens and pigs." Erica explained, "It's a bit stinky in the barn, but it'll be a good time, I promise."
"Big animals?"
"Yes Vince, there will be big animals." Erica ruffled his hair, sitting next to him in the RV. "Now why don't you demolish these pancakes? They got the syrup you like and everything."
And not only did Erica's grandfather Huxley had big animals, he also had an extremely energetic dog named Butch which immediately showered Erica with affection.
"Jeez, Butch, I love you too, chill!" Erica laughed. Vincent was scared, so Jonny kept hold of him, "From what I understand, Grandpa's out milking the cows today, so we have free reign of the apple orchard. He said we can pick as many as we'd like, since we're helping him harvest."
"Sounds good, lead the way." Jonny nodded, rubbing Vincent's back.
Butch was left in the house and they went into the orchard, where beautiful trees filled with apples of various ripeness were ready to be picked and baked into various dishes. As they walked to the orchard, Erica explained the difference between ripe apples and unripe apples.
"So apples ripen from the outside of the tree towards the trunk. We want apples that are firm and don't have any nicks or bruises, because then they're sad apples and that's no good."
"Bu' how pick?" Vincent asked, holding onto Sheepy and his Papa.
Erica hummed, "Well, why don't you come over to me and I'll show you, okay?"
Vincent did as asked and Erica picked him up, "Remember what I said, okay? We want really strong apples and that aren't all banged up. See one?"
Erica held him up to a tree and he nodded.
"Alright, what you're gonna do is you're gonna grab it gently, if you pinch the apple you're gonna hurt it, and we don't wanna hurt the apple, it'll go bad quicker. You got a good grasp now carefully lift up the apple and what you're gonna do is you're going to twist it, like you do a doorknob. Be gentle! Don't pull on the fruit or shake the branch, if you keep the stem on it, it'll last longer."
Vincent successfully grabbed the apple and he waved it around excitedly, "Didja see Papa, didja?"
"I did see, Vin. Good job." Jonny smiled.
"Don't throw the apple in the bag now, act like it's an egg. So you have to be gentle." Erica pointed out, helping him put the fruit into the bag.
This routine continued for several trees, with Jonny becoming involved and Erica helping Vincent. They ended up bagging two large tote bags worth of apples. One bag they'd be keeping and one bag would be given to Orlando's mother.
These would become various dishes- Apple pie, caramel apples, apple butter, apple crisp, apple cider, apple crisps, applesauce, apple jam and various other dishes including Brown Betty.
It would not be October without copious amounts of Brown Betty and Cider.