A is for apple and for tarts and turnovers, applesauce and apple butter. For backpacks and briefcases, dunking barrels and lunch boxes. Crisp, crunchy, sweet, tart, peeled, or as-is — the simple, elementary apple is the fruit of fall.
Take your pick, literally. Pick-your-own orchards abound in Henderson County, where 65 percent of the state’s apples are grown. Here, Amelia Sheehan, of Lexington, Kentucky, has found her favorite flavor at Justus Orchard in Hendersonville.
Just one more: Waist-high bins of apples from Barnwell’s Apple House in Hendersonville tempt a buyer.
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Father and son Stan and Andrew Rhodes gather fruit from their generations-old orchard, which they maintain today as a hobby. Every apple is donated to food banks and other nonprofit organizations.
Coston Farm, a fourth-generation, family-owned orchard in Hendersonville, sells Honeycrisp apple pies made with Coston Farm fruit (and family recipe).
The Orchard at Altapass off the Blue Ridge Parkway near Spruce Pine is “a business of pleasure, not production,” says Altapass Foundation CEO, Bill Carson. The 100+-year-old orchard still has 2,000 trees with 40 varieties of apples. Plenty are still good for pickin’.
For decades, a remote piece of Currituck County has been a respite for wildlife. Now under the protection of conservationists, this land, the waters surrounding it, and the skies above will remain a constant in our coastal circle of life.
On North Carolina’s coast, boardwalks wind alongside our sounds, rivers, and beaches, reminding us that the journey is often just as delightful as the destination.
From Wanchese to Duck, these landmark businesses and the families who run them connect consumers with the daily catch.
As the sun sets at Grandfather Mountain, fireflies put on a magnificent show — for those willing to stop and pay attention.
