Minnesota Apple Orchard (Original Photography)
Howdy,
The end of apple season is quickly approaching, so I made time to go out to a local apple orchard. The Northwoods Orchard is fairly new, only having been opened for apple picking in 2010. It's, now, my favorite orchard in the area.
Green and Gold
Visiting the apple orchards is one of the benefits of living in this area. There's nothing quite like walking through the apple trees on a crisp, fall day. By the time I arrived, the sun was low in the sky and there wasn't much time until closing. Even so, there were quite a few families and a lot of kids around! I stood in line for ten minutes to buy a fresh seventy-five cent apple doughnut with families and kids on either side.
An Offering to the Deer
Minnesota is known for its apple research and many of the newer varieties come from the University of Minnesota. Last year, I purchased a half peck of B51 apples. When I asked about them to day, the owner of the Northwoods Orchard told me that the place I got them last year is the only orchard in the state who is allowed to sell them. Apparently, there are patent issues.
Ford Rust-ang
This old tractor was sitting at the edge of the orchard. It looks to be in pretty good shape, though I doubt it sees much use. It is the perfect size to get under the trees, though, so maybe they use it to collect apples after hours.
Pie Pan Fodder
These apples were well beyond the reach of the kids and even the adults. The family that runs the orchard and their employees will have to come back and harvest these with a picker or a ladder. They look tasty, though!
A Flower Pot!
And... Where was this barn when I was taking barn photos for a project?! I was looking for one with a tree growing in the silo and only found one. It was in an inconvenient spot, so I couldn't even get that one. Apparently, the phenomena is not as rare as one might think.
Normally, I don't do much in Photoshop, but this image had electrical wires running in front of it. Can you spot them? My vision isn't what it used to be, but I couldn't find any residual cable-looking spots.
Might Be Enchanted
I would really, really love to sneak in here next summer and take some long-exposures of fireflies in the orchard. I could do a little light painting and it would look eerie and enchanted.
Corniest Apple Tree Photo
Thank you for taking a look! If you enjoy my work, please click the upvote button. Comments are also greatly appreciated.
@fotosdenada
HOORAYYYY Look at you go full Curie!!! SO well deserved too!! I love the fog happening in the 1st photo. Hmmm, they are all excellent and loved the titles!
Thanks! It was actually really dry out there and the first shot gets that look from the gravel drive on the other side of the trees. The dust from people coming and going just jung in the air, creating some very nice sun shafts.
Do you have a Ford Rust-ang? Mwahaha
Hi @fotosdenada, thank you for sharing this. This was first time I saw an apple orchard. Did the orchard allow you eat as many as you can after you paid the entrance fee? The area was so clean and well organized. When I saw the picture, I can smell the apples although no apple around me. And I didn’t know that apple also have patent right and grade as well. I learnt a lot today pertaining to Apple orchard and apples. The apple shown in your photo, is it yellowish color? Or it supposed to be red just that it not yet ripe?
There was no entrance fee for this orchard. You can pay to pick and eat some while you do. They seem to make the majority of their money off selling the ones they have picked, but it is fun to pick your own.
Thank you.
This orchard had many varieties growning. I don't know which ones were in the trees, but there were some yellowish apples that were probably Golden Delicious or Honey Crisp. The red ones could have been almost anything. I bought some Northern Spy apples that have both red and yellow skin.
@fotosdenada, it so nice to pick your own apple and not buy it from market. Do they have limitation on how many apples you can pick? Sorry about the question because i very curious on how apple orchard make money if they allow people pay and pick.
It depends on the orchard. Most of them charge you by the weight of the apples you pick. They generally charge less to pick your own, but that's been changing, too. The bagged apples cost between $4 and $8 for a small bag (1/4 peck) and they also sell fresh apple donuts, caramel apples, pumpkins, and had an assortment of gift items. Most of their money is likely made by selling apples in bulk to be sold in grocery stores. I'm sure they're making money by the you-pick apples too, though. This one was closing, so I took some photos and bought an already picked bag for $5.
@fotosdenada, that interesting. But it makesense, charge with bag size if you plan to pick yourself. Thanks a lot on your patience explained to me.
I would love to see those long exposure photos with fireflies. Looking at your photos I can say that you are a great photographer, so I'm sure that you will produce perfect photos of the fireflies.
I love apples. I've never been to an apple orchard though. We had a few apple trees in the garden and I remember picking them directly from the trees. But just between us, the best apples are those that are on the ground. Those are the ripe ones. And my grandma used to say that the apples with a worm are the sweetest ones. The worm wouldn't go into a sour apple :)
Thank you for sharing your story and beautiful photos! I enjoyed them all!
Thanks! I did some light painting / long exposures last summer with fireflies that came out quite nicely. My old Canon 7D has a lot of trouble in low light, but I can stil get it to do what I need most of the time.
As long as you cut the worm out, anyway! From what I've heard, the ones on the ground, as long as they're not rotting, are used in cider a lot.
Did you post them last year? I'd love to see them if you have a link...
My camera also isn't ideal for low light. I'm planning to buy a new one as soon as the Steem price goes up - hopefully sooner than later :)
Yes, sure! You never just bite in such apple, but clean it first and they the worm out. Yes, they are great for cider because they have a lot of sugar in them. Of course I wouldn't pick an apple from the ground that would be lying there for a few days. We did the picking every day, then they don't have a chance to rotten :)
Thank you for getting back to me!
Last year, I went to the orchard just to buy a few bags of apples and didn't even bring my camera.
I'm also hoping Steem will go up significantly. If it hits $5 or so, I can afford to upgrade my camera as well :-) I've been looking at the Canon 5D Mark IV and also the new mirrorless they have. The mirrorless looks nice, but I think I'd wait until they have a few more versions of it out before going that route. Besides, I'm comfortable enough with a DSLR.
Our apples at home always had worms, because we didn't use pesticides. Even the ones on the trees seemed to have bits and spots where insects had attacked them. They were great for pie, though, as long as you just cut that part out :-)
Woww..thats is a cool place and thanks for bringing up the Minnesota Apple Orchard. This is quite new to me and i belive this is where the benefits of social networking comes into play....you know by now i only heard of our own Kashmir and Shimla apple farm and many of them get exported to different parts of the world we too have a variety of apple option around. But never knew about Minnesota. But the way you have presented the beautiful orchard i belive they have great variety too...
You got very shots to present the orchard ibespecially like the one for the deer....whole ground full of apples.....loved to read it. Thanks for sharing.......👌
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Thank you! Minnesota has developed quite a few varieties. Apple varieties that work well here, though, might not work well in other areas and vice versa. I lived in southern Spain for a few years and it was interesting seeing what kinds of apples they had there. The flavors aren't quite the same, but fairly close, and I even saw some Honey Crisps in a fruit shop in Ronda :-)
Howdy from Texas fotosdenada! Hey this is a great post. The photos are perfection with a nice mixture of scenery and I like that little old tractor! We used to have one like that on our farm when I was a kid.
Do you specialize in landscape or outdoor photography?
Thank you.
I wouldn't necessarily say I specialize in any particular area. My subject matter tends to be a little of everything, but landscapes are definitely one of the more enjoyable ones. I worked as a portrait photographer for awhile, and still take the occasional senior photo shoot.
well I can tell you are very gifted and have a great eye!
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Brother, I am hooked by your art because I love trees, that is, trees as a poetic figure, a god. The trees are like the house of art, they are always there waiting for the artists to do something wonderful with them, as you just did not only with the trees but with all this place and its colors.
I congratulate you, my respect.
Thank you. Trees can be very photogeni, especially where we have four very well defined seasons. Soon, they'll be covered with snow.
Beautiful orchard
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Thanks!
Hi fotosdenada,
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Congrats on getting a boost from @curie and @c-squared for this great post! It is well deserved my friend! Your photos are great, and you did a great job of getting rid of the electrical wires with Photoshop. I couldn't see a sign of them.
Thanks! It pushed me over the 60 rep threshold, too. It's been awhile since I've done anything like that in PhotoShop, so it was nice to make sure I can still pull it off :-)
Oh! Congrats on the 60! That is a big milestone. I don't usually pay attention to that number, unless it's my own!