Inviting spread in Oswego, N.Y.
September 24, 2015 8:25 am
It’s apple-picking time in my home turf of central New York state.
Loads of folks gather up the kids or friends and get out there and get their own. Me? I’d rather select a bag or box that somebody else has already rounded up from the orchards.
Inviting spread in Oswego, N.Y.
My dear wife Karen and I took a trip to Ontario Orchards, in fact, to buy some apples and apple pie, too. It was my first trip to this grand place in Oswego, N.Y., a place she’s visited in autumns past with our friend Michelle. I wrote about it for my Mark It Up community column for Syracuse Public Media site waer.org. You can read my piece and check out more photos by clicking the link below.
http://waer.org/post/ontarios-orchards-you-can-find-your-pick-more-apples#stream/0
Hover over any gallery photo for a description. Clock on the bottom right photo of any gallery for an enlarged slide show.
The owners have offered so much to their neighbors some 30 miles northwest of Syracuse for more than half a century. Nowadays, there’s a nursery on the grounds and a guy who parks his barbecue truck to sell his tasty food from under a tent. Donnie Alecci also works for the local Ashley Lynn Winery, and stocks their bottles next to his food.
Inside the Ontario Orchards Market, I found my sugar-free apple pie. Karen found her regular variety. We bought apples enough for our fridge and to share with Good Neighbor Tim and his Wonderful Wife Lorraine.
And we walked the aisles to discover so much more. Ontario Orchards favors local products. Nice. Very.
This was a Sunday to welcome a change of seasons in our part of the world.
Good picking, my dear wife.
Do you pick-your-own, and if so, do you have a story to share? What are some of your favorite local products, and why? Which is your favorite photo, and why?
Posted by markbialczak
Categories: Freelance, iPhone Photography, Life
Tags: apple picking, Apples, Buy local, New York State, WAER, waer.org
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Just love apples!
And by the way, yesterday was National Apple day here in Sweden! ( and “smågodis” dagen- candy day! )
Have a nice weekend and say hi to Karen!
/a
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By inte fan gör det det on September 26, 2015 at 5:31 am
I hope you had a candy apple to celebrate, Anna! That would be perfect for the combine apple and smagodis dagen day. Have a great weekend, my Stockholm friend. Karen has to work overtime today and Sunday. 😦
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By markbialczak on September 26, 2015 at 8:16 am
Mark- I had to much smågodis all weekend long!!! But I just cant stop once I start!
have a great day!
kram
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By inte fan gör det det on September 28, 2015 at 9:43 am
Have a great Monday, Anna Kram. 😉
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By markbialczak on September 28, 2015 at 1:48 pm
kram right back at you! 😉
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By inte fan gör det det on September 29, 2015 at 8:03 am
There’s a cool town here with a lot of antique and craft shops. They have a vintage apple mill there which is very cool. I miss when we went there when I was a kid and they made apple cider and cider doughnuts on the site.
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By Pleasant Street on September 25, 2015 at 4:22 pm
Yum, Rose. Good trip for a kid. And an adult. Go back!
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By markbialczak on September 25, 2015 at 4:48 pm
Now I’m hungry! And you always have such great photos too.
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By Stuart M. Perkins on September 25, 2015 at 2:48 pm
Thanks, Stuart. What a great place that is to take pictures with an iPhone!
I’d share the pie and the bag of apples with you, gladly. We had enough of both to go around.
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By markbialczak on September 25, 2015 at 3:11 pm
I love pie!
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By Stuart M. Perkins on September 25, 2015 at 3:52 pm
Join the club. 🙂
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By markbialczak on September 25, 2015 at 4:47 pm
I really enjoy stopping at these kind of markets MBM. I love the freshness. And the unexpected varieties and treats the locals create.
And I love a neighbor who is thoughtful for their other neighbors. ❤
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By Chatter Master on September 25, 2015 at 5:52 am
Good Neighbor Tim and I help each other out every which way we can, MBC. 🙂
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By markbialczak on September 25, 2015 at 2:57 pm
It’s the best way to be MBM ❤
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By Chatter Master on September 27, 2015 at 7:45 pm
I READ ONTARIO AND THOUGHT YOU WERE IN CANADA!!
Apples are my fave fruit Mark. I eat one almost every day in hopes of keeping the doctor away – seriously!
It’s so Mark-like that you picked up enough apples to give some to your neighbours – love that about you guys! ❤
Diana xo
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By dianasschwenk on September 24, 2015 at 10:00 pm
This county is called Ontario because it sits on the other side of the Great Lake that we share with your nation, Diana. Lake Ontario’s shore is in the city of Oswego, which gets, oh, twice as much snow as Syracuse because of nature’s lake effect moisture-feeding mechanism. And Syracuse gets a lot of snow. 🙂
Thank you for your kind words, my dear friend. ❤
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By markbialczak on September 25, 2015 at 3:00 pm
We used to have the best plum trees when l was at school.. So many plums it was impossible to eat them all. My fruit-tree growing endeavors in Sydney have been unsuccessful. Even the thriving lemon tree when we moved in has sadly shriveled up. No green fingers have I.
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By passion through poetry on September 24, 2015 at 7:05 pm
Oh, no, Vonita! I think it must be the climate and soil, not your fingers. 🙂
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By markbialczak on September 25, 2015 at 3:04 pm
It was thriving when we moved in, it probably got watered more.
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By passion through poetry on September 25, 2015 at 5:36 pm
we’ve done apples, strawberries and blueberries and pumpkins. i’d love to do more – always have fun at those places,it’s impossible to be crabby. and i love riding a hayride to get out to a field!
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By ksbeth on September 24, 2015 at 6:42 pm
Hayrides! That’s a great fall topic in its own right, Beth. 🙂 Yeeeeee-haw.
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By markbialczak on September 25, 2015 at 3:04 pm
A post that’s as delicious as an apple, Mark.
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By Ann Koplow on September 24, 2015 at 4:50 pm
Thank you for your crisp and fresh comment, Ann.
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By markbialczak on September 25, 2015 at 3:07 pm
Sounds like a fun time. The folks on TV keep talking about going to apple orchards and the wonderful smell and something about apple cider donuts, which I’ve never seen. We don’t have apple orchards here, so I’m a bit envious.
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By kerbey on September 24, 2015 at 3:46 pm
Apple cider donuts are popular here, yes they are, Kerbey. Too bad you don’t have them down in the torrid hot Austin area. 😦
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By markbialczak on September 24, 2015 at 3:50 pm
We picked apples every Fall growing up in PA. It was a family ritual that always left us full, scratched up from climbing in the trees (against the rules), and with a bit of a belly ache. So worth it. ☺
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By vanbytheriver on September 24, 2015 at 3:27 pm
So you’re a tree climber, Van. Tsk, tsk. No waiting for the best ones to fall fo you, hey? 😉
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By markbialczak on September 24, 2015 at 3:37 pm
☺ Story of my life. ☺
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By vanbytheriver on September 24, 2015 at 7:11 pm
Someday I’ll get to apple country and see fruit on the tree. Bet it smells good, too
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By philosophermouseofthehedge on September 24, 2015 at 3:14 pm
You bet, mouse. It smells so fresh.
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By markbialczak on September 24, 2015 at 3:37 pm
I have apple trees, so I do indeed pick my own. This year did not yield a bumper crop though, so I will need to supplement if I am to bake pies like mad, as I tend to do. I really need to deal with the pruning…
I like the nursery photo best, because well, you know how I love plants and stuff 🙂
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By joey on September 24, 2015 at 2:57 pm
Yes, I mentally had you down for the nursery photo, Joey. I hope you bake pies like mad because it sounds like a chore that makes every dang one in the family happy!
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By markbialczak on September 24, 2015 at 3:39 pm
I’ve picked berries in the past, but never apples. I do like to buy them from local farms stands though. I made lots of applesauce last year for Thanksgiving and Hanukkah–actually because I asked my husband to pick up some apples for me at a stand, and he didn’t know how much I needed, so he came in with a huge amount. 🙂 I also love apple pie and apple crisp!
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By merrildsmith on September 24, 2015 at 12:55 pm
All things apple at this time of year, and the fact that you made them, Merril, bonus points! Yum.
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By markbialczak on September 24, 2015 at 3:40 pm
Apples are a sore spot with me at the moment. I’m trying to find someone to go with me on an upcoming blogger meet-and-greet here in Buffalo, but they all tell me they’re going apple picking that day. They won’t accept my offer to go to the store and buy them a bushel o apples just so they can then go to lunch/dinner with me. Its so hard being unpopular.
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By cordeliasmom2012 on September 24, 2015 at 11:25 am
Yikes! The bushels from a farm stand would taste the same. I’m with you. Blogger company is more important, CM.
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By markbialczak on September 24, 2015 at 3:44 pm
Apples. Mmmm. I think they are the world’s most delicious fruit. But I may be a bit prejudiced. My mom used to make apple pie every rainy Sunday afternoon. Glad it rains in Washington State. As they say in the mid-west, “Apple pie without the cheese is like the kiss without the squeeze”.
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By Fannie Cranium on September 24, 2015 at 11:05 am
Ha! Between the apples and cheese and kissin’ and squeeze, that explains why your gravatar picture fairly glows Fannie. 😀
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By Paul on September 24, 2015 at 11:11 am
LOL. Thanks, Paul!
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By Fannie Cranium on September 24, 2015 at 11:14 am
Well no wonder there are big families in the Mid-west with that lovely saying, Tracy. Haha. Love it.
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By markbialczak on September 24, 2015 at 3:48 pm
I adore Honey Crisps
!
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By annetbell on September 24, 2015 at 10:59 am
They’re really tasty, Anne T!
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By markbialczak on September 24, 2015 at 3:47 pm
I just bought 4 large ones @$2 a piece! Ouch, I need to go pick some if they are still available!
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By annetbell on September 24, 2015 at 4:40 pm
In case you missed this!
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By annetbell on September 24, 2015 at 4:50 pm
And yeah, the big daily and web site here are covering it really well.
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By markbialczak on September 25, 2015 at 3:09 pm
Very exciting time!!
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By annetbell on September 25, 2015 at 4:56 pm
Do you know the Lacrosse score?
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By annetbell on September 27, 2015 at 5:13 pm
I’ve never gone picking for any sort of fruit or vegetable though it sounds like fun, and good exercise. Really like the look of the shop, very quaint. It’s hard to pick a favorite but it would definitely be amongst the ones of the interior of the shop.
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By Marissa Bergen on September 24, 2015 at 9:56 am
It’s old-timey inside that store, Marissa. Hand-placed, and loved, all of the produce and products. You’d like it, I think.
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By markbialczak on September 24, 2015 at 3:45 pm
I’m sure I would. It looks terrific.
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By Marissa Bergen on September 24, 2015 at 3:56 pm
Ahhh, the sounds and smells of Fall – love apple season. It is great to see stores selling local products. It has been a lot of years since I’ve been apple picking but when I was young we used to go out a number of times each season. My Mum and Nan used to make apple jam and apple pies (to freeze) and apple crumble, etc. I always got an apple in my lunch but I usually traded it for other things at school. 🙂
Fun posts Mark.
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By Paul on September 24, 2015 at 9:36 am
Trading at lunch for other things! Now that’s the spirit, Paul. I want to see a post about that someday, my friend. A writing challenge I think you’d have fun with, so to speak.
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By markbialczak on September 24, 2015 at 9:40 am
Love apples I have made homemade applesauce, spiced apple rings, several apple crumb pies! Woo Hoo. Gatorette.
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By Cheryl "Cheffie Cooks" Wiser on September 24, 2015 at 9:30 am
Of course YOU have, Gatorette! 🙂 You are a kitchen master. Love it.
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By markbialczak on September 24, 2015 at 9:33 am
Ah no a large family!!! LOL
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By Cheryl "Cheffie Cooks" Wiser on September 24, 2015 at 9:37 am
Wish we had more like this, Mark. Our places are either small – just pick some apples and leave, or big – feels like all the produce has been trucked in from someplace else. Not too much in the middle.
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By snoozing on the sofa on September 24, 2015 at 8:53 am
You know our area is made for this kind of thing, Scott. More and more, anyway. Have a great fall with your three growing guys!
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By markbialczak on September 24, 2015 at 9:30 am
I don’t grow my own, but my mother does. She always makes the best apple crumble! 🍎
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By amandalyle1986 on September 24, 2015 at 8:39 am
Oh, wow, Amada. Apple crumble with homegrown apples sounds simply outstanding! 🙂
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By markbialczak on September 24, 2015 at 9:29 am
It really is! Especially with custard 🙂
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By amandalyle1986 on September 24, 2015 at 9:31 am