We get really into autumn at our house. We love the crisp cool weather, the changing colors, getting to wear sweaters and boots, drinking cider and pumpkin ale, harvesting up our fall crops, and staying cozy in our house. Evan’s birthday is in October, and it’s also when we met, so we try to take advantage of every fall-like activity we can think of to celebrate the season, like visiting the pumpkin patch and watching Halloween movies and sitting by fires with spiced beverages. 

This last weekend, the first official weekend of fall, we drove out to Kiyokawa Orchard in Parkdale, Oregon, to participate in one of our favorite fall chores—apple picking. Kiyokawa is a vendor at the Montavilla Farmer's Market where Evan, and our good friend Kelli, are on the board of directors. Kiyokawa is a special apple grower, with wonderful, and sometimes rare, heirloom varieties. The owner of the orchard, Randy, was kind enough to give us a tour of all the different fruit grown in the orchard. As he told us about the history of his family's business, founded in 1911, he encouraged us to try whatever variety stood out to us. I was particularly thrilled to hear that one of the Kiyokawa Orchards is located on a piece of property in the little town of Dee, Oregon, where my grandmother, Violet, was born in 1920, and where Randy's father was born in 1923. Perhaps they were neighbors?

We had a great time touring the rows of beautiful apple trees, set at the base of Mt. Hood. After picking about 25 pounds of our favorite varieties—Pink Pearl, Crimson Crisp, and Zestar to name a few—we loaded up and found a lovely little picnic spot down the road in Parkdale. We now have a freezer full of applesauce, dried apples, apple pie filling, and plenty left to snack on.

Notes from our Ledger

25 pounds of Apples for $57 from Kiyokawa Orchard in Parkdale, Oregon.