Harvesting More than Apples
How apple-picking offers nourishment for your body, mind, and spirit
Honeycrisp apple, Och’s Orchards, Warwick, New York
Most every autumn, I travel to either New York’s Hudson Valley or New Jersey’s Skylands region to go apple-picking. It’s a tradition that my mom and I started as a way to have fun while doing something meaningful together out in nature. We’d make the hour-long drive to one of the orchards, spend time in the beautiful outdoors gathering our apples, and then go have lunch in one of the quaint towns nearby. Once home, we’d make apple cake, apple crisp, and homemade applesauce better than anything you could ever buy in a jar. After my mom passed away, I continued this annual pilgrimage, which I find to be not only enjoyable but also therapeutic.
Apples are a delicious, low-calorie, low-glycemic snack, but one can’t discount their nutritional benefits. With almost 5 grams of fiber for a medium apple, as well as pectin, polyphenols, quercetin, and a slew of other vitamins and minerals, apples can help lower blood pressure and cholesterol, aid digestion, prevent constipation, protect the cells from oxidative stress, and support brain health, gut health, and even bone health.
While most orchards are not certified organic, the majority of local family-owned farms use minimal amounts of pesticides compared to the large, industrial growers that supply the supermarket chains. Unlike the monoculture practices of their larger cousins, these small farms grow a diverse range of fruits and vegetables, helping to maintain soil health and reduce the need for deadly chemicals.
But there is more to apples than just a sweet, healthy bite. They say an apple a day keeps the doctor away, but for this member of the rose family, the benefits extend far beyond nutrition. The very act of picking your own apples has a multitude of rewards for both body and soul. Apple-picking provides a dose of Vitamin D from the sun as well as a gentle, full-body workout. Walking around the orchard from one apple section to another is a great way to get in your steps. You can easily walk anywhere from 2 to 5 or more miles as you travel through row after row of trees. Besides low-impact cardio, apple-picking promotes flexibility and mobility, as you’re repeatedly reaching, stretching, and bending to collect your bounty. It’s also very meditative, as your mind settles in on the task of finding and procuring apples, taking in their various shapes, colors, and patterns, all while delighting in the beauty of the surrounding scenery, what I refer to as “terrain therapy.”
View of the Warwick Valley, Orange County, New York
Being out in nature, feeling gratitude for the gifts of the earth, is a great mood enhancer and can help relieve stress. Seeing where your food is coming from, supporting local agriculture, meeting with and talking to the farmers connects you to the land and your food in a way that no supermarket experience can replicate.
For women in midlife, apple-picking is an activity that can be done alone, as a meditative, back-to-nature form of self-care, or with others, as a form of socialization, bonding, and building trust. It’s appropriate for all age levels, and a great way to spend a day with children and/or grandchildren. Most orchards have a petting zoo and farm store, some have live music and children-friendly activities, such as pony rides or hayrides, and all provide a day full of fun, no matter what your age.
Apples grow in all 50 states, and most have U-pick orchards open to the public. The best time to go is from mid-September through October, although each apple variety is harvested at a different time, so if you’re keen on a certain type of apple, be sure to check and see which ones are available for picking when you plan on going. For me? I like to collect a wide assortment of apples, as I find it makes for a better applesauce. This year my sojourn yielded a bounty of Honeycrisp, Golden Delicious, Gala, Snap Dragon (a new one for me), and Pink Luster. There were Cortlands, Macouns, Staymans, Jonagolds, Ruby Frost, Evercrisp, Macintosh, Fuji, Pixie Crunch, Mutsu, Empire, Red Delicious, and Staymen, but my two bags were already filled with 11 pounds of apples, and I had to stop somewhere.
But the spiritual journey doesn’t end when you arrive home with your bags, heavy with the day's harvest. There's something deeply magical about transforming these apples you've personally selected into something delicious you can enjoy and share with others. The kitchen becomes an extension of the orchard experience, a place for another mindful, nurturing activity that connects you to your food and the season. For me, this year, as usual, it was applesauce.
Applesauce is one of the easiest things to cook. Whether you're working alone or making a family affair out of the event, it’s an enjoyable, mindful activity that reaps the rewards of a sweet, healthy treat that lasts for a good week in the refrigerator. I like to use a variety of apples with differing flavor profiles, from the very sweet Fujis, Galas, and Snap Dragons to the more moderately sweet Honeycrisps, Pink Lusters, and Golden Delicious. This is a great way to eliminate or reduce the need for added sweeteners, although when I do sweeten, I use dates and just a drizzle of maple syrup for flavor.
I don’t really follow a set recipe, as I use however many apples I feel like cutting up on a single day and then add “enhancements” based on feel and taste. There is no need to peel the apples (a great time-saver) as the peel, which has the bulk of the apple’s fiber, mostly melts during cooking, and I think actually enhances the flavor. For this year’s batch, I used about 7 to 8 pounds of apples, but you can use as many or as few as you’d like. Just adjust the other ingredients as needed.
HOMEMADE APPLESAUCE
Ingredients:
7 to 8 pounds of apples
4 Bartlett pears (they add a soft, lovely flavor to the applesauce)
1 cup water
5 to 6 Medjool dates, pitted
Zest of half an organic lemon
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Maple syrup, to taste
Directions:
Core and cut the apples and pears into large chunks. No need to peel them.
Add apples, pears, and water to a large pot.
Cook over medium heat.
As it cooks, add the Medjool dates and lemon zest.
Continue cooking until the fruit is soft and begins to break down.
Use an immersion blender to reach your desired consistency. I prefer mine chunky, so I don’t blend it fully.
Once the texture is right, turn off the heat and stir in the vanilla. If you’d like it sweeter, add maple syrup (I used 1 tablespoon for this batch, but the amount depends on the apple varieties you use).
Let it cool, then refrigerate for up to 1 week.*
*NOTE: The applesauce is delicious warm, but it’s best to wait until it’s cool enough to eat without burning your mouth. As it cools, it tends to get a little sweeter.
Apple-picking reminds me each year that wellness isn’t just about what’s on your plate, but about the experiences that feed body, mind, and spirit. For women in midlife, this simple autumn ritual offers nourishment on every level: movement, connection, mindfulness, and of course, delicious food. It’s a gift we can share across generations, creating memories as lasting as the orchards themselves. But the real benefit is time well spent outdoors, rooted in the rhythm of the seasons. Apples may heal the body, but the journey to pick them nourishes the soul, and that’s a harvest worth savoring at any age.
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The information in this article is intended for educational purposes only and is not a substitute for medical advice. Nothing in this article is intended to diagnose, treat, prevent, or cure any disease. Always consult with your healthcare provider before making any dietary, lifestyle, or supplement changes, and do not forego, delay or disregard medical advice based on the content shared in this article. Please consider your personal situation and individual needs and do your own research.
SOURCES
1. Five Science-Backed Reasons to Go Apple-Picking This Weekend — NBC News
2. Apples in Midlife: How One Simple Fruit Supports Women’s Health — Michigan Apples Committee Board
3. Apple Farms: Find U-Pick Local Apple Farms by State — U-Pick Farms USA