Apple Picking at Radke's Orchards

On a misty Sunday morning this past weekend, my son and I set out in our car to pick apples in Indiana. Our destination, Radke's Orchards, allows dogs on their property, so we brought Rusty, our golden retriever, along with us.

The funny thing is Rusty hates getting into the car so I have to lift him up. He's a large dog so I do it by manuevering him close to the door, putting his front paws on the seat, and then lifting with all my might the rest of him into the car. Ooof! In movies, dogs seem to just jump into cars all on their own and enjoy sticking their heads out the windows, but not our Rusty. Doesn't he look angelic in this photo? You'd never guess he's a reluctant rider.


The fog lifted well before we arrived and we had a perfect fall day for apple picking. I had chosen to travel country roads rather than highways to get there which made for a relaxing drive.

The apple orchard sold half bushel plastic bags for fifty cents each so I ambitiously bought two. We started our apple picking with Galas. The orchard provided us with a map showing where the various varieties were planted. Trees at the ends of the rows were marked with tags denoting the variety name and harvest date.


Rusty was a big hit with all the little children out apple picking with their families. He was very well behaved and enjoyed his opportunity to check out new territory and smells. My son and I had to laugh when he sniffed around the outside of the porta potty and relieved himself right in front of it.


Radke's Orchards has picnic tables located throughout the orchard which makes a great place to eat lunch or just rest a bit. We looked over the amount of apples we'd already picked and decided maybe one bag would suit us just fine. After all it was quite a lot to haul around along with holding the dog's leash, his water bowl, a water bottle, my purse, my camera...you get the idea.


While we were resting here in the shade, Rusty ate some apples and apple peels that were underneath the picnic table. [Unfortunately they didn't agree with him and he got carsick on the ride home. Fortunately we were almost home and I had lined the backseat with a towel.] Ahhh, life with a dog.

We concluded our apple picking with selecting Golden Delicious and Jonagold apples. Safely returned home, that night we made homemade apple crisp. Yum yum! It's easy and quick to make so I've provided the recipe below for those of you who haven't tried it.


APPLE CRISP RECIPE given to me by my friend Marilyn

Preheat oven to 350° F. Thinly slice 6 cups of apples. Mix apples with 1/4 cup water, 1/4 cup brown sugar, 2 Tablespoons flour, and 1/2 tsp. cinnamon. Mix well and place into an 8" x 8" baking dish. Make apple crisp topping by melting 1/2 stick of butter and adding to it 1 cup uncooked Quaker Oats, 1/4 cup brown sugar, and 1/4 tsp. cinnamon. Spread topping over the apples. Bake 30-35 minutes.

Note: I really like the topping and will double the topping measurements.


Hope you're enjoying apple season where you live. It's one of the highlights of my fall.