Apple Picking at Tougas Family Farm

An apple a day ..... Keeps the doctor away or so goes the saying and after the 33lbs of Apples picked at Tougas Family Farm in Northborough I'll be eating at least one a day for a while. Apple picking is one of those must do things in the fall and its always a fun experience.

With the variety of farms in the area we selected Tougas Family Farm because of the variety of apples they grow, the reputation they have, and the proximity to where we live. Its a quick simple ride and right off the highway in Shrewsbury, MA. It was also named one of the Ten Best Apple Orchards in Country by Woman's Day and one of the Ten Best pick your own apples by USA Today.

They have a huge parking lot clearly labeled which is a good thing since the crowd of people we saw when we arrived was shocking since we had arrived early. There were  already significant lines to gain entry into the orchards through their small red barn. We lined up with everyone else and the mood seemed energetic and with the sun shining brightly why not be excited to enjoy the fresh air and some great apples.

At 10:00 sharp the doors opened and the lines seemed to move quickly with each group picking the size back they would fill. There were two options a Peck ~ 10lbs was $25 and allowed up to 4 people into the orchard or a 1/2 Bushel ~ 20lbs for $35 which allowed up to 6 people into the orchard.The idea was that you could pick as many apples that will fit in the bag they gave you. The larger back was significantly bigger then the small and since we planned to make a few pies  we selected the 1/2 bushel. After paying we made our way through the gates to the orchard.

The apples that were ready to be picked were on the far side of the orchard and you had two options to get there. By tractor pulled cart or by foot. Since everyone else was in line to take the tractor we decided to walk. As we made our way to the picking area we walked through row after row of apple trees. Each and every row was labeled with the type of apple being grown. That made it easy for lay people like us to figure out which apples we should pick. Also helpful was the chart on the side of our bag telling us which apples were best for eating and which were best for baking.

There were several types of apples ripe for the choosing and they included Jonagold, Empire, McIntosh, Macoun, Crimson Crisp, Fuji, Gala, Cortland, Mutsu, and Honeycrisp. As we wandered the rows of apples looking for those perfect specimen's to add to our apple pies we sampled as many of the different apples as we could. Some with sweet while others tart. some were juicy and others more dry.  I loved the Honeycrisp's as they were described as explosively juicy. We tried to stick to the guidelines for what apples made good pies while picking and it didn't take long before we had a full bag and full stomachs.

Again we had the option to ride back to the barn by tractor or walk. We stuck to walking and it felt much longer a trip on the way back with a bag about ready to explode with apples. Once we cleared the gate of the orchard we put them in the car and returned to the small village of barns for some home made apple cider doughnuts and fresh apple cider.

 
 
I love apple cider doughnuts and these certainly didn't disappoint. The apple cider was equally as good and refreshing. Once done we walked through the other buildings admiring the pies for sale before heading out ourselves. They also had a complementary apple recipe packet for anyone to take. You can download it here.

 

After a great day picking apples it was time to bake some pies. We purchased 6 ready made pie crusts by Pillsbury and enough sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg and flour as necessary. Once home we began the long process of peeling, cutting, coring our apples. Well it wasn't really that hard since we had the right tool that did it all for us. All we had to do was crank and then cut up the spiral but apples.

Then we combined sugar mix which is a ratio of 1/2 cup flour with 1 tbsp. of flour and 1/2 tbsp. of cinnamon and 1/2 tbsp. of nutmeg. Once thoroughly combined we coated our apples liberally in the mixture. That sugar coated apple combination we then stacked generously into our pie plates creating a nice mountain of apples. Next we rolled the second pie crust on top and using our thumbs and forks we sealed the two crusts together. We also added some vents to the top of the pie to let it breath. In the old days you would use a pie bird to let the steam out.

We placed our three pies in the oven art 350-degrees for about an hour and tested bu putting a knife into our apples they should be tender and soft. That was it we made three pies and had left over apples from that 33lbs bag of local farm grown apples. we couldn't wait to sink our forks into a slide with some vanilla ice cream on the side. They were delicious.