We grow a mean peach down here, though.

Apples are a way of life here in Fort Wayne, IN. We have Johnny Appleseed parks, festivals and his grave. Our minor league baseball team is the Tincaps. There are numerous apple festivals through November and more apples and cider than what is probably healthy.

We’ve finished our first gallon of cider yesterday, so I guess its time for another trip out!

I was kind of indifferent to apples growing up. The only orchards we ever visited just had Macintoshes, which I don’t much care for (too mushy, though good in cider), and the grocery store had, at best: Granny Smiths (didn’t entirely mind those, especially with salt…yeah, I’m strange), more mushy Macintoshes, mealy Red Delicious and bland Golden Delicious (nothing Delicious about them). They’ve expanded a bit now, but still nothing like the variety and quality we have here in Washington. First couple years here it was rather a culture shock walking into the grocery this time of year to be confronted by a dozen varieties all fresh from the orchard!

It seems like the Honeycrisp would be awfully hard to top. Good ones are a “How did they *do* that???” experience.

By the way, your description of the pumpkin situation was oddly specific. The whole thing sounds really nice, though.