We are lucky to have found an awesome little family orchard just a few miles away in Pioneer, Ohio.   Called Votay Farms…   They have a deal where for $5 a bushel, you can pick up fallen apples in their orchard for livestock or deer/hunting.   A bushel is two five gallon pails filled to the brim!  And it probably is close to 40-50 pounds of apples!

If you’re careful and take your time, you can get tons of awesome apples!  Perfectly good.  They just had the misfortune of falling before the pickers came through!

We gleen off a quarter or third of them every time for our own use.  We’ve made freezer apples for baking, apple pies, homemade apple sauce and we’re going to make some apple butter next!

And of course, all our hoof friends absolutely adore this fall treat.  The hogs just would eat nothing but apples if we let them!

Even the chickens like them.

I believe we’ve gotten about 6 or 7 bushels now.  I told the girls we were probably appled out but to be honest, I think we might go back one more time!  Haha…  they are that good!  I’d like to put a couple bushels in the poultry barn’s cold storage area as just treats for everyone.  See how long they last!

Our farmer friend next store has a whole acre field with pumpkins and they are still just sitting there.   I’m going to try and see if they are available for a decent price.  I’d love to stock pile a bunch of them as well.   Everyone loves pumpkins around here…  from the hogs to the ponies to the sheep and goats and even the chickens and bunnies!  An excellent form of fodder for everyone.

We’ve gotten a few from the pumpkin sellers around for a buck a piece, pretty large ones, but it would be awesome to fill up the wagon for $20 or something!  I think they would keep pretty long out in the chill of the poultry barn!