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The Trip to the Apple Orchard
By mel | October 30, 2007
We went on a field trip to the apple orchard with a group of homeschoolers.
First there was a hayride, pulled by these guys….
We learned about the plants and animals that live in the area. Did you know bears need to eat 25 pounds of food per day to get ready for hibernation?
Then we learned about tin smithing and what it was like to be an apprentice.
We then got to practice our mad tin smithing skillz.
Master tin smith. Oh yeah!
We learned how to make cider with a pioneer era cider press. Always wary of the bees…..
Apples only, please. Finger cider doesn’t taste very good.
Choosing the right apples was crucial…..
We learned about traveling by covered wagon. Did you know the kids had to walk pretty much the whole journey? They walked a good distance ahead of the wagon and moved all of the large rocks and filled in holes so that the wagon could pass, and collected kindling. Buffalo dung was often used for kindling. Did you know that each family member could only take two sets of clothing? While the pioneers usually bathed once a week, while traveling, they may only bathe once per month! (Upon hearing this, several of the boys crowed, “Lucky!”) Sounds like quite the stinky journey.
We learned all about living in a small log cabin. Kids had to empty the chamber pots every morning! And you know that saying about the bed bugs? Yeah, they really did bite. Ewww!
After a quick break for lunch, we got to have an apple tasting. We tried six different kinds of apples and some fresh cider. Did you know there are pink and purple apples? Pink apples are called Pink Lady apples. One type of purple apple is called the Arkansas Black. The Boy’s favorite was the Golden Delicious. The Girl says she liked the Arkansas Black.
Then it was off to the orchard, where we learned the proper way to pick an apple. Did you know if an apple is not picked properly that it will be 5 years before another apple can grow in that spot? We also learned to never pick up an apple off the ground because after eating their fill at night, the bears mark the ground…and the fallen apples….with their scent. That can’t make for a tasty apple. We saw bear fur and bear scat.
Because the orchard is 100% chemical and pesticide free, we could eat apples right off of the tree.
Then we got to pick pumpkins….although there were not too many left.
It was gorgeous…..
All in all, everyone had a good time…and The Boy and The Girl made it almost four whole hours without fighting. I think that has to be some kind of record.
Topics: Field trip!, homeschool, The Girl, The Boy, Uncategorized |
October 30th, 2007 at 10:36 am
[…] These pictures were taken on our field trip to the apple orchard. You can see more here. […]
October 30th, 2007 at 11:08 am
[…] Also, we went on a field trip to the apple orchard. You can see pictures and stuff here. […]
November 9th, 2007 at 12:10 pm
What a fantastic trip! Around here, if we go to the apple orchard, you pretty much get to pick apples and that’s it. Not that that’s not fun, but all the history and cider pressing stuff sounds so much MORE fun!
Thanks for your comments and encouragement on my blog! It’s nice to hear someone say that they’ve felt the same way!
December 18th, 2007 at 1:01 am
That looks like a fabulous field trip!
I lead a preschool homeschooling group that did a similar trip in the fall. (But we didn’t have the hay ride!) I love your blog, I hope you keep sharing with those of us who enjoy hearing about your “parade”.
January 2nd, 2008 at 2:48 pm
What a great trip - I am thinking for ideas for our next homeschool trip and will add this to my list of ideas. Thanks!
April 13th, 2008 at 3:24 am
matthew’s sleeves are so punk rock.