1-Tank Adventure: Outhouse Orchards

HUDSON VALLEY, NY — Saturday Night Live had it all wrong — upstate pumpkin patches are wonderful and apple cider doughnuts just taste better on the farm.

Sure you can pick your own produce straight from the tree and later in the year, a pumpkin patch with easily navigable footpaths beats picking your carving pumpkin from a cardboard box at the supermarket, but the secret star of Outhouse Orchards is the farm stand. When you give someone a gift of handmade confections, homemade jams or a gift basket of farm fresh fruit, they have no choice but to ask about your apple-picking adventure and then you get to show them pictures.

At least two trips to the orchard might be in order. The first trip would be the time to concentrate on claiming the first harvest. Later in the year, as a comfortable autumn chill settles over the Hudson Valley, a second trip will allow visitors to concentrate their attention on picking the perfect pumpkin, tackling the corn maze or pretending to enjoy a hayride for the sake of the kids.

Don't worry city slickers, the cow in the pumpkin patch isn't real. (Jeff Edwards | Patch)

IF YOU GO:

• The 2021 Picking Season begins Labor Day Weekend.
• Outhouse Orchards is located at 139 Hardscrabble Road in North Salem.
• Peaches, pears and apples are available to pick.
• A reservation system implemented in the 2020 season for COVID safety reasons made the picking season much more manageable for the orchard staff, while drastically reducing crowd size, but most importantly, traffic time entering the farm. The orchard decided it will begin to implement the reservation system in place during the second weekend of September.
• Reservation slots will be for a stay of 3 hours at the farm.
• A reservation is required for each car that enters the farm — not for each family or group member.
• Refunds will be issued for inclement weather only. Reservations can be canceled up to 48 hours prior to your visit for a full refund.

If you can't get to the apple you have your eye on, just ask someone to help you reach. (Jeff Edwards | Patch)

SEE ALSO:

• 1-Tank Adventure: Bear Mountain State Park
• 1-Tank Adventure: St. Paul's Church National Historic Site
• 1-Tank Adventure: Stone Barns Center For Food And Agriculture
• 1-Tank Adventure: Building Memories At Legoland
• 1-Tank Adventure: Buttermilk Falls Inn & Spa
• 1-Tank Adventure: 'See For Miles' At This Hudson Valley Overlook
• 1-Tank Adventure: Old Rhinebeck Aerodrome
• 1-Tank Adventure: The Wild Center