On a beautiful Friday afternoon, we made an impulsive decision to go strawberry picking at a local farm. Since we're right in the middle of strawberry season, there are many farms that open to public offering strawberry picking activities. We decided to go to Applewood farm because they have a variety of fruits, activities and a winery as well.
While we were waiting for the tractor, we had some fun at the petting zoo feeding these adorable sheeps.
Our ride to the strawberry patch is here! This tractor transits the farm non-stop, picking up and dropping off visitors throughout the pastures.
After a few minutes ride through the apple orchard and pumpkin patch, we arrived at the strawberry patch! Although it's a weekday afternoon, there was a small crowd of people there.
The strawberries were mostly tiny in size and not ripe but occasionally you will find larger ripe ones hiding underneath the leaves. Who would have guessed that strawberry picking would be such a workout! We were exhausted after filling up half of the basket.
This little guy jumped into the patch and startled me. Apparently toads and frogs are frequent visitors to the strawberry patch as well.
Success! After over an hour of hard work, we managed to fill up 4 baskets full of strawberries! It was a good workout too. The strawberries weren't all extremely sweet but the darker ripe ones were definitely sweet. A good way to eat slightly sour strawberries is to dip them in sugar. Try it! You won't regret it.
Applewood also has a winery and of course we have to pay a visit. There are also a variety of products made from their own fruits including apple jam, apple cider and juice etc. We had a little taste-test of the wine and we purchased the blackcurrant wine, the apple cider and also the Ella's Ice. You can learn about the different types of wine here.
We definitely recommend you to come visit while the strawberries are still in season. If not, you can wait for apples and pumpkins in the fall.