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Mountain Apple Picking at the Historic Orchard at Altapass in North Carolina

October 15, 2014 1

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by Jennie

Before we left for our fall family trip to North Carolina, we made a list of all of the fun things that we wanted to do. The list encompassed all of our yearly must-do activities with a few new activities added in as well. I told the mister that the one thing I would like to do is visit a mountain apple orchard. He said to keep your eye out for one while on one of our many long drives on the Blue Ridge Parkway. Towards the end of our vacation, we still hadn’t come across an orchard, so I figured it just wasn’t going to happen. Then, one morning I thought we were headed towards another hiking adventure when the mister pulled off the main road down a very steep turn off. When I looked up I saw the Historic orchard at Altapass in front of us! Hooray! He was so excited to surprise me with this special treat and we ended up spending most of the day there. Read on to check it out.

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After browsing around in the Altapass Orchard shop, and stopping to listen to a group performing mountain music we decided to venture out into the orchard. There are several different trails that you could take throughout the orchard, and of course we picked the longest one! We ended up so far into the orchard that all of the visitors (and there were a lot that day) seized to exist, we were completely alone. We were able to observe all of the beautiful butterflies floating throughout the orchard and even came upon a buck who was happily munching in the apple trees! He darted out of there too fast to catch him on camera.

There were so many different types of apples, small tart ones, and huge juicy ones that barely fit in the misters hand. It was really cool to visit an orchard that has been around for more than 100 years!

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We walked so far that our trail eventually took us into a forest, it was still part of the orchard but so far removed that we didn’t even realize it was there until we were in it. We munched on apples as we walked (we paid for them later!), chatted and just had a wonderful time. By the time we made our way back to the apple-stand, almost everyone was gone except the employees. We bought a couple of root beer floats and sat on the deck relaxing after our 4 hour hike through the orchard. It was pretty amazing – I can’t wait to do it again next year!

+ The Historic Orchard at Altapass
Milepost 328.3 between Mt. Mitchell and Linville Falls.

Have a Lovely Weekend + A Few Green Things

October 3, 2014 0

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Hello, Friends! How are you? Any fun plans for the weekend! We just finished up our first week back from our fall family trip to North Carolina and I have to admit I am still recovering. Why is it so hard to get back in the grove once you get home from vacation?

This weekend I plan to sit down, go through all of the photos and share some of them with you! I will give you a little teaser, think mountain hiking, heirloom chickens and pumpkins! (The intro photo is one of the wonderful heirloom pumpkins you can find in North Carolina.) The rest of the weekend will be spent playing a little catch up, celebrating our 15 year wedding anniversary, and decorating for Halloween. I am just a tad excited! While I get to work, here are a few green things I thought you might enjoy:

– I love these 5 ways to improve mood with real comfort foods!
– In the west? Here are 18 great places to spot fall colors.
– Wow! I would love to take a long distance hike.
– We live so close to the Bahamas – why haven’t I traveled there to visit the swimming pigs?
– Have extra fruit? Dry all of it in the oven!

I hope you have something fun planned for this lovely fall weekend – I will see you back here on Monday!

xo,
Sweet Greens

Have a Lovely Weekend + A Few Green Things

September 5, 2014 0

2014-01-18 01.04.12Hello, Friends! How was your week? Can you believe it is already September? I have been sipping my yummy, warm chai tea all week and it definitely puts me in full fall mode! Since my family definitely craves autumn weather and since we are back into the school routine and already craving a little family time away from the hustle and bustle – I booked our fall family trip. This year we are heading back to our favorite spot in North Carolina, I can barely wait and am counting down the days! I love getting away with the boys, and look forward to soaking up as much autumn weather as possible. Are you in full fall mode too? While I heat up yet another cup of chai, here are a few green things I have been meaning to share with you:

– Before it gets too cold, make your own ice-cream in 5 minutes!
– Mr. Sweet Greens (this one is for you!), when we have a farm – all of the animals will be our pets!
– Are you a couponer? Yeah, me too – here are 7 tips for stepping up your game.
– I am petrified of heights, so this video made me a feel a little nauseated!
– Do you can? Me neither! Here are 10 other ways to preserve those summer fruits and vegetables.
– I love animals, so this piece on shelter animals and the humans who love them, melted my heart.
– The above photo is from the farmer’s market – aren’t veggies so pretty?

I hope you have something fun planned for the weekend, I will see you back here on Monday, I miss you already!

xo,
Sweet Greens

 

Banner Elk Winery | High Country, North Carolina

November 4, 2011 0

While on our Fall Family Trip to North Carolina, we spent an afternoon at Banner Elk Winery. Banner Elk Winery is a small, local family owned winery that uses no pesticides on their grapes and uses only local ingredients. The winery is adjacent to a 25 year old blueberry farm – the blueberries are used to create their award winning Blueberry Ice Wine.

Mr. Sweet Greens and I sampled several different wines; Marechal Foch, High Country Rose, Seyval Blanc, Chardonnay, Banner Elk Red and Banner Elk White. We were interested in finding a few wines that would compliment Thanksgiving dinner and I was really focused on the whites – since they are my favorite!

The three wines that we fell in love with were, the Marechal Foch, a Cabernet Hybrid developed to grow at high altitudes and withstand cold winters. It is very fruity and will pair well with Thanksgiving dinner. The High Country Rose which is more off-dry with a fruity flavor – a Bronze Medal Winner. And the Seyval Blanc made from Appalachian Mountain grown French-American hybrid grapes, this wine is dry with citrus overtones – another Bronze Medal Winner. We picked up a bottle of each to serve with Thanksgiving dinner.

I really wanted to try the North Carolina Ice Wine, it’s a rare dessert wine made from Seyval Blanc grapes that have frozen while still on the vine. It’s a sweet, full-bodied wine, I think it would have been my favorite. Samples were not available since the North Carolina Ice Wine is super popular and they only had three bottles left.

During our visit, we were lucky enough to experience some of the grapes being pressed – Eben enjoyed a  sample of the fresh grape juice. He also loved running around the beautiful grounds with Noodles and playing with another little boy visiting the vineyard. The property is amazing, complete with a lovely porch to sit on as you admire the beautiful trout pond, mountain ridge and vineyard. There is also a lovely Villa on the property that is perfect for weddings, honeymoons or family retreats.

+ Banner Elk Winery | 60 Deer Run Lane, Banner Elk, NC 28604 | 828.260.1790

New River Pumpkin Patch | Boone, North Carolina

October 28, 2011 1

One of my favorite parts of our Fall Family Trip is the pumpkin patch. We always get our heirloom pumpkins from New River Pumpkin Patch, just outside of Boone, North Carolina. Last year, We picked up half a dozen pumpkins on our trip. This year – I couldn’t resist, we brought 16 heirloom pumpkins home. [I will post photos of the different pumpkins in an upcoming post.]

New River Pumpkin Patch are super nice and helpful. New River always does their best to be environmentally friendly by using Integrated Pest Managment (IPM) practices as well as other techniques to avoid using chemical sprays. This year they did NOT spray any fungicides or insecticides on any of their pumpkins. And they helped us get all of our pumpkins from the patch to our car. Good thing – Eben was getting tired trying to carry all of the pumpkins. 🙂

Besides having a fantastic pumpkin patch, New River also has an amazing corn maze.

Does your family support a local pumpkin patch?

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