Autumn is a time for harvest, and in fact, until 500 years ago, this season was simply known as “harvest,” and for good reason. In Europe, and later in the colonial and modern United States, autumn is the time for harvesting crops such as apples and pumpkins, along with gourds and many other fruits and vegetables. Today, even though most farming is done with large combines and the like, farms can still make for a fun day trip for families, and a activities for kids are everywhere when a farm hosts a festival or other social event in the autumn. Kids can go on hay bale rides, explore the farm’s property, and most of all, they can visit an apple farm and, with supervision, pick apples from the orchard’s trees and also visit the pumpkin patch where they can choose their own pumpkin to harvest and take home with them. Meanwhile, the adults can use these pumpkins and apples as fresh, authentic ingredients for all kinds of autumn and winter recipe baking, and what is more, a farm can make the perfect pre-fabricated rustic setting for a wedding. The autumn season has something for everyone, from picking apples to baking apple pies and pumpkin snacks.

About Apples

This is a common and very popular fruit around the world. Some 7,500 varieties of apples are found globally, and around 2,500 of those varieties exist in the United States alone. Everything apple made will come from one variety or another, such as green or red apples. The world’s biggest apple was a Hokuto apple found by a Mr. Chisato Iwasaki of Japan, and this monster fruit weighed just over four pounds. Today’s dessert enthusiasts probably shouldn’t expect an apple quite so big at the local orchard, but these fruits are massively popular for all kinds of desserts, such as pies or apple fritters or applesauce. In fact, Crisco and the American Pie Council conducted a recent survey asking participants what dessert they would prefer a friend or family member to bring to a holiday dinner, and “pie” was the clear winner at 29%. Crisco and the American Pie Council launched a similar survey to find out what Americans’ favorite pie flavors were, and apple pie came in first with 47%, and pumpkin pie was second with 37% and chocolate cream came third at 32%. Apple pie is popular year-round, and is a staple dessert today. Everything apple made can often be eaten in the autumn season or during winter, but it may be popular at other times, too. Among everything apple made, there are also recipes for apple donuts for those who like them.

On Pumpkins

Everything apple made is hugely appetizing among many, but pumpkins are common dessert items as well. These vegetables are one of many food items that entered the global market during contact between Europe and North America, and these large vegetables vary widely in size, from just a few ounces to over 1,000 pounds or so. Like apples, they can be baked into pies, and for Americans today, pumpkin pies are the iconic dessert of Thanksgiving, and they can still be popular at other times too, often eaten with whipped cream. Pumpkins may also have their seeds salted and baked to make low-calorie snacks. And like apples, pumpkins can be picked at a local farm, where kids can have fun finding the pumpkin they like best, maybe the roundest or most orange one, and take it home with them. During Halloween, these pumpkins can be carved into Jack-O-Lanterns will all kinds of patterns on them.

Decorations

Everything apple made can be a fine dessert, along with pumpkin pie, but these plants have aesthetic appeal, too. More and more brides and grooms choose to have rustic themed weddings in place of banquet hall weddings, and a farm is an ideal place to host an outdoor wedding. Baskets of apples and pumpkins and gourds can make for fine decorations and wedding favors, and these decorations double as fine ingredients for home cooking, making them a charming and also edible gift for the wedding guests. Rustic farm weddings may be most common in autumn but may also be held in summer, the most popular wedding season.