Apple Picking at Highland Farm

You know it's really Fall when there are apples to be picked. My friends and I have picked at a few different spots over the years, but this year, on a warm but drizzly day, we opted to try a new-to-us spot, Highland Farm in Holliston.

Highland Farm was very easy to get to (despite some traffic in Framingham), and when we arrived, there were all of four cars in the parking lot. True, this was mostly due to the weather, but Highland Farm doesn't offer many of the attractions (think hayrides, petting zoos, or play areas) that make other farms destinations for families with young children. We had been hoping for cider donuts, but they didn't have those either. Highland Farm is really a no-frills apple picking experience.

But that's ok, because the focus at Highland is clearly on picking delicious fruit. All the trees are dwarves, meaning we could reach all but the absolutely highest fruit, and they use a trellis system so that every apple is reachable without disturbing the rest of the tree too much. We couldn't get over how many apples were on each tree - a few trees even looked like they were made entirely out of apples.

When we visited, Highland was picking at least 7 different kinds of apples (more eating apples than baking apples, but there were plenty of both). We chose Highland predominately because they were picking Honey Crisp on Saturday, but when we arrived, I found a new favorite in the Twin Bee Gala, which was nice and crisp but not too over-the-top sweet. There were also some amazing Golden Supremes, but we didn't find those until our bags were already full, so I didn't get to bring any home. Take a tip from me - walk through the first section of trees without picking any. The second section (we didn't even check to see if there was a third beyond) is packed with way more fruit (because less people go there, obviously), plus some more varieties, so take a look around before you start picking.

Of course, on our drive home, we opted to drive through Wellesley, which led to a stop at Wasik's for our favorite cheeses and a discussion on what to cook with all of our apples. Not a bad way to end a day out apple picking.