I wanted some local apples.  Considering that this is the part of the country where Johnny Appleseed did his thing you’d think that finding some local apples would be EZPZ.  But you’d be wrong.

There really aren’t very many local orchards any more, so it takes some driving way out into the countryside to find one.  Which is exactly what we did on Sunday.

However, once we got to the apple orchard we discovered that pumpkins were the raison d’être for this orchard’s existence.

It was the pumpkins’ orange-y cuteness that drew the customers into the barn market & adjoining fields.

First, a first sign told us what to do.

Nearby piles of [pre-picked] pumpkins showed us what we could expect to find if we chose to pick pumpkins.

Then, a second sign, explained to us what not to do.  I’m sure that Ralph Waldo Emerson upon seeing such a sign would scoff.  As you may remember, Mr. Emerson said: “I would rather sit on a pumpkin, and have it all to myself, than be crowded on a velvet cushion.”  But apparently the management at this particular apple orchard had other ideas.  [Please note: no velvet cushions were provided in lieu of pumpkins.]

Entertaining as it might have been, we decided not to pick pumpkins.  Instead, we went into the barn market and bought a bag of apples, a jar of zucchini relish & a jar of quince jelly.  Then we returned home to enjoy our local apples purchased from one of the last apple orchards in the area.  Yum.