Maybe it’s the feeling of walking outside in crisp October air, or maybe it’s the distinct sound of colorful leaves crunching underneath your shoes, but it’s no secret that fall is a beautiful season. And that apple picking is the undisputed champion of outdoor fall activities. Karen Abbott, the owner of Abbott Farms in Baldwinsville, N.Y., certainly believes so. ‘It seems like we have to have a few really cold days before people start thinking of apple picking,’ Abbott said.

Abbott Farms was founded in 1866 as a sustenance farm, where family members only raised food for themselves to eat. Since then, Abbott slowly shifted from a dairy and produce farm to the self-picking community orchard that it is now. The change connects the farm more closely to the community since customers can buy directly from the source instead of a retailer, Abbott said. Despite the fact that peak apple-picking season is actually during the first days of the fall, there’s something about the later half of the season that visitors can’t seem to resist. Abbott cited Columbus Day weekend as her busiest time of the season because people aren’t in the right mindset until later in the year once school has started. ‘It’s cold enough so people are thinking of the fall, and families will go out on trips,’ Abbott said.

Apples may be Abbott’s strongest seller, but it’s certainly not the farm lone asset. During the fall season, there is also a petting zoo, pumpkin patch and a corn maze. Abbott said the maze certainly attracts the most diverse set of clientele, ranging from quick family excursions during the day to more serious nighttime orienteering with scouting and university groups.

‘With the maze we try to have a medium-level difficulty. Some people get impatient with that, and people get lost. We’re prepared for that. We have radios and four-wheelers,’ Abbott said. While running a local farm usually attracts a distinct group of community families during the year, the fall season and Abbott Farms becomes a unique forum for social interaction.

‘We get a lot of couples on the weekend that are dating,’ Abbott said. ‘We see a lot of hand-holding. It’s encouraging to me to see this as a place to develop a relationship. …Lots of people meet here.’

But every year the crowd tapers off as winter sets in. Yet even during the year’s freezing months, Abbott and her family are hard at work preparing for the next fall. ‘The winter has a lot to do with how the fall turns out,’ Abbott said.

Given its close ties to the Onondaga County community, Abbott says she doesn’t feel right without the constant interaction with new and familiar faces. ‘One of the hardest things about winter is going from seeing thousands of people each week to just each other (at the farm),’ Abbott said. ‘Seeing them and hearing their ideas is very motivating and rewarding.’ Apples and pumpkins The best part about going to a farm is picking the food, and there are no limitations at Abbott Farms. Apples, pumpkins and even corn can be picked right off the plant. The list goes on – strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, potatoes and sweet cherries – but these are seasonal pickings that are not available in the fall. Eating the apples creates the perfect segue in-between activities. There are 15 types to choose from and Abbott Farms makes it easy to decide which variety you need. Want to make salads, sauce, pies? According to the chart that’s handed to everyone who buys an apple-picking bag, Macintosh apples are only ‘fair’ for use in pies, but good for applesauce and excellent in salads. Fuji apples are good all around. Pumpkins are one of the other popular attractions for the fall. The farm has an expansive pumpkin patch where visitors can pick pumpkins right off the stem or out of a huge cart of pre-picked pumpkins. The Halloween staples range in price from $1 to $12, based on size. So get five baby pumpkins for or one big one, all for the same price.

-Amity Paye, asst. copy editor

The cornfield maze

The paths of Abbott’s maze wind around towering stalks of corn that make it near-impossible to get through without more than one wrong turn – or half an hour of aimless wandering. Finding the end comes with the frustration involved in solving a Rubik’s Cube. Each step is another chance out, but it’s rare when a path seems to lead to the right direction. There are clues to guide the way, but it’s too hard to follow them in order and too easy to meander down other trails. Somehow Clue No. 8 becomes Clue No. 3, and there doesn’t seem to be any way out. The Kiddie maze is an option for those who don’t want to spend so much time roaming, but it’s only a nook of the cornfield and so not as much fun. -Brittney Davies, asst. feature editor

The country store

After picking apples, getting lost in the maze and finding the perfect pumpkin, the logical next step is to buy edible souvenirs. These can be found in the Country Store. Resembling what may have looked like a 19th-century general store, the farm sells everything from tiny Apply Sippers, which are small bottles of apple cider cutely placed in a small apple-shaped bottle, to jars of tasty jelly.

Delicious, homemade fudge can also be found in the store. Made right on the farm, the fudge is sold in almost every flavor, including traditional fudge, vanilla, cookies and cream, peanut butter cup and ‘Kitchen Sink,’ a fudge flavor that contains just about every ingredient that could be found in someone’s cabinet: caramel, peanut butter, nuts, marshmallows and a few other sweet treats. The store contains a bakery that sells homemade cookies and pies for cheap prices, made with New York-grown fruit. Other fixtures in the store include a vast produce section, raw meat (for the aspiring chef), dairy products and other cooking items such as honey, nuts, potatoes and other unique snacks that can be kept in the cabinet. – Kelly Outram, feature editor

Published on October 12, 2009 at 12:00 pm