Apple Picking By Platypus

[Bicycle Belle Ding Ding!]

I just did the most Rivendellian thing ever. I’m certain that when the elves of Rivendell were drawing up their Platypus Plans they were picturing this: picking fresh fruit by bike. It is a cool, sun dappled morning in Michigan, and my green and gold Platypus is being readied to do its good work. There is a nearby farm that I can ride to, and they have announced the opening of Honeycrisp apple picking season this very morning. 

My favorite apples in all the world are Honeycrisp apples. This variety was created in Minnesota (a state near and dear to my heart) and I’ve never tasted a better apple. The Honeycrisp was bred for taste - a sweet and tart combination that is perfectly balanced. I’ve only had them from the grocery store, but picking them fresh from the orchard should yield an out-of-body experience, I figured. 

I rode my Overkill Shopping Platypus to the farm. They let me park right by the entrance to the orchard and kept an eye on the bike while I wandered through the apple orchard, filling my paper bag with a half bushel of fragrant, red Honeycrisp apples. I returned to my Platypus and began loading up my Backabike bags. The scene was idyllic with the sunflowers in the backdrop and my bags full of red apples in the foreground. A man stopped to admire my bike. The more he looked, the more he liked. In 3 minutes’ worth of questions, he came to the conclusion that he needs this exact bike. I told him there’s a shipment soon coming to Rivendell. I hope hope HOPE one day to run into another Shopping Platypus at the orchard. 

I have fruit-shopped by Platypus with varying success in the past. I put fresh strawberries from the farmer’s market in my front basket and came home with strawberry jam instead. I got a watermelon wedged in the bag and struggled to free it when I got home. I was not anxious to arrive with bruised apples, or worse, applesauce. But this is where Backabike bags shine - not one apple was damaged in transit. 

Attached in the next post is a video I made of the experience. Which may or may not work. Instagram will have it, though!

Leah

[Leah Peterson]

[Leah Peterson]

The watermelon hauling did not go as well.

[Ryan]

No apples were harmed making this movie😊 Nice!

[Joe Bernard]

That looks fun, I'ma need to find me an apple orchard. 🍏🍎

[Steven Sweedler]

Leah, try and find a Macoun apple late in September or early October.When I can’t find Macouns I buy Honeycrisp, you are lucky to be picking  great apples this early. Steve

Plymouth, New Hampshire

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Steven Sweedler
Plymouth, New Hampshire

[George Schick]

Thanks for posting this report about apple picking and the attached photos.  They bring back many, many memories of traveling over to the orchards in SW Michigan to pick apples - especially those honey crisps.  Even better having it transported them via a good long wheel base bike equipped with pannier bags.  Thanks again for showing.

[Bicycle Belle Ding Ding!]

Steven, wow, an apple better than Honeycrisp?! I’ll definitely look for the Macouns this fall. It’s hard to believe such a thing exists, but I have heard the new Minnesota apple, First Kiss, is top-notch. I’ve never had the pleasure of eating one, but I’ll be keeping my ears to the ground for rumors of them around here. Ryan, well, ONE apple was harmed. The one my son dropped as he unloaded my bags. Joe - go apple-picking and post your photos back here!

It really was such a romantic thing to do; the kind of life I always imagined I would have but never did because I lived in 3 states’ worth of deserts my whole entire post-collegiate life! But now I am finally where I belong - Platypusing around the local farms and hauling produce to my house in the woods.

Leah

[Joe Bernard]

I have a question about that this that's probably obvious to you God's Country folk, but I'm just a common city boy and can't picture how it works: Do you pay a fee to go in and pick away, or do they charge by the bag on the way out? 

[Joe Bernard]

"that this that's"

I know what I was trying to say. Maybe.  

[Eric Daume]

In my experience, all of the U pick places charge by weight when you're done.

My younger son and I had some nice rides this summer to our local wild blackberry patch to pick some when they were in season. Free!

Eric

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[Leah Peterson]

Joe, it’s the easiest thing ever. You’ll catch on to our citizens-of-God’s-Country-ways. They gave me a choice of two different-sized bags - a half bushel or a peck. I looked at the size of the bag, chose the bigger and filled it up. Flat fee of $30. You’ll encounter something similar - a scale at the end of your picking or a bag that you pre-pay and fill up. 

I picked strawberries last month and that farmer had a box you put the money in - $4 per quart of berries - all on the honor system!

You HAVE to do this. Report back.

On Aug 21, 2022, at 1:11 AM, Joe Bernard <joer...@gmail.com> wrote:

I have a question about that this that's probably obvious to you God's Country folk, but I'm just a common city boy and can't picture how it works: Do you pay a fee to go in and pick away, or do they charge by the bag on the way out? 

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