Where the Pickin’s Good…and Inexpensive!

We are now well into apple season in the upstate area.  In fact, it’s nearing the latter half…but the pickin’s still good…really good!  If you’ve looked at the apple prices and added in the cost of gas, you may be thinking that it’s less expensive to just stay home and grab your apples from the local supermarket, particularly if you’ve been to the orchards just for the tourism/vacation.  Pick a few for the “experience,” but bushels? Just a tourist trap?  Fortunately, there are some really good deals to be found…

Stepp’s Orchard (~10 cents/lb. or half bushel for $2)

Lots of apples under the tree at Stepp’s (left side)

At Stepp’s Hillcrest Orchard, you can pick your own apples off the ground for $2 for a 5 gallon bucket (2 buckets= about 1 bushel).  Each bucket weighs around 20 pounds, so it comes to around 10 cents per pound.  You just have to check for worms and soft spots, and, of course, most of them have some mud on them.

Our family went this past weekend (it was cold, and didn’t help our sicknesses), and there were apples everywhere!  We had gone last year (if you remember, there was a drought) and still found plenty, but the variety and abundance had greatly increased this time.  We got mostly Rome, Crispin, and Fuji apples.  Although we took our time most of our trip, my husband was able to pick a half bushel in just 15 minutes!  So if you’re really working hard, it doesn’t take much time at all.  You may also want to ask for a map of the apple types, and make sure you tell them beforehand that you are picking the $2 for 5 gallon bucket special.  They have buckets, boxes, and wagons available for use (you can keep the boxes).

Skytop (~32 cents/lb. or half bushel for $7)

Bagging apples at Skytop

My friend Kristen went to Skytop 2 weekends ago, and kindly filled me on this deal!  Thanks, Kristen!

At Skytop Apple Orchard, there are “seconds apples” in a big bin from which you can choose your
own. The apple varieties are all in the same bin. When Kristen was there, the apples in the bin were mostly Fuji and Yellow delicious (probably varies from as time passes and from season to season).

Overall, seconds apples are half-off the regular pricing. Kristen got a half bushel bag for $7. You can also get other size bags for half of the regular price.

Speaking of apples, check out Jessica’s blog, Bargain Banana, where she shows a lot of things she did with their apples from Skytop Orchard!

Anyone else know of any other great apple deals?  I’m happy to answer your questions about our experience at Stepp’s, too!