Visiting the Apple Orchard

Today we went to visit Chapin's Orchard and the children had such a great time and we were very thankful that it didn't rain! We learned a lot of new facts about bees and apple trees. We learned that every apple has a story. For instance, when looking at an apple, often times there is a patch of green. The green part often represents an outline of something (a leaf, a stick) that was preventing that particular part of the apple from getting sun. So the next time you bite into an apple, check out the skin and see if you can tell what was blocking your apple from getting sun.

The first thing we did when we got to the orchard was we made apple cider. We watched as two parent volunteers and our guide crush the apples and press them down to make the cider. The apple cider was tasty and many of us wanted seconds. Then, we spent some time in the classroom learning about the parts of a bee, how bees pollinate the trees and we even got to see real live bees.

In the apple orchard we learned that we aren't the only ones who enjoy apples! The mice do too. They like to nibble at the bark of the tree, which can damage the tree. So, the farmer at the apple orchard place wire guards at the bottom of the trees to prevent them from nibbling at the bark. Then, we finally picked apples, which the children were excited about. After, we each ate an apple and enjoyed a story about apples. The apples were juicy and delicious!

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