This past Sunday morning my boyfriend had an ambitious agenda. He wanted to go apple picking. This doesn’t sound too berserk being that it was an October afternoon. But, after Yelping my morning away, I was surprised to find that there were close to no orchards open on a Sunday morning.

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     It seemed that everywhere in the near proximity of Harrisonburg was closed. Lucky enough we took to Google and found a hidden gem: Paugh’s Orchard. Our GPS informed us that it was about a 25-minute ride down Route 42. This joyride was sublime. Route 42 is characterized by rolling hills and spacious farmhouses sporting Make America Great Again! signs on their Tom Sawyeresque fences. And there, nestled along a bend in the remote farm town of Quicksburg, was our destination.

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     Pulling into the parking lot of Paugh’s, I was overwhelmed by the high volume of traffic coming through the overflowing gravel lot (which was clearly not built for its popularity). We pulled over into the grass and began our adventure.

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     The first thing that caught my eye was a banner painted with the words “Fresh! Apple Cider.” In my mind this was the same as somebody informing me that there were a dozen newborn golden retrievers at this orchard. (see photo below) I had to investigate.

 

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     The sleuth that I am discovered that Paugh’s doesn’t just sell this fresh apple cider. They also have a generous employee filing up free Dixie cup samples! After my first cup, I declared that I was going to buy some. This angelic man handed me not one, but TWO more cups filled with crisp apple cider.    

       

     At this point, I was satisfied. To my boyfriend’s dismay, the owner of Paugh’s informed us that Quicksburg faced a bad freeze which affected the growth of the apples on the trees. Unfortunately, the trees were bare. He relayed the information that we would not be able to pick any apples directly from the trees. (Disclaimer: He said that we could go up to the orchard and go through the motion of picking apples if we so wanted to).

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     In the moment, this was disappointing, until this man directed us to over a dozen enormous crates overflowing with juicy apples. This sufficed in place of apple picking. These wooden crates were about the size of my freshman year dorm room bed. There were thousands of apples, about 10 different types, filling these bins to the brim.

 

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     I purchased a peck for $6.50. This got me about 20 apples when all was said and done. The prices that Paugh’s offered were pleasing. The photo above shows other pricing options.

When picking, you can mix and match all types of apples. They had an array of apples: York (seen above), red delicious, nittany, Gala, yellow delicious and many more.

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     After I nitpicked over my apple selection for close to 30 minutes, I ventured inside the farm stand. Here, Paugh’s sells an array of goods: fruits, vegetables, honey, baked goods and even gourds. The room was filled with people. The ambiance was buzzing with excitement and commotion over all of the homemade goods.

I ended up purchasing the homemade honey. It is delicious- even to pair with the apples!

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I recommend making the trek out to Paugh’s. This is a fall experience everybody should get to enjoy.

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Quick Facts

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Address:

5591 Senedo Road

Route 42 North

Quicksburg, VA 22847

 

(25 minutes from JMU)

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Phone:

540-740-8028

 

Hours:

Sunday-Friday: 9 a.m.-6 p.m.

Saturday: Closed

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