Easy Pickin's Orchard — Attraction in Enfield

I can't believe i have lived in Connecticut for more than 10 years without discovering Easy Pickin's Orchard, a CSA farm owned by the Kelliher familly, that has way more than other CSA farms--namely FRUIT! And, we're talking everything from berries to Asian pears.

And, they are also so flexible in their shares philosophy.

We arrived at the farm last Saturday, thinking cider donuts and apple pie. What we found was a family farm with self-pickin' apple trees (and picked at the stand if you don't want the easy pickin') with no commercial store, or gift shop, or any of the big farm commercialization we thought we might find.

Instead, we walked up and down rows and rows of many varieties of apples, and then went back to the stand for kale, Asian pears, and then back out to the garden for leeks. Wow. So fresh, so yummy, and so much fun.

Carol, the seasoned gal at the stand directed traffic, rang up customer pickin's and informed us about things like half shares, Saturday single share boxes in late fall and winter, and general good information and family stories.

We love this farm. This is our community. We should support it. We want these good people to thrive as their produce does...

What started off as a really great family outing (with my wife, 6 year old son, 1 year old son, and their grandma) took a bad turn. The signage here is confusing, there are signs that say “do not pick” and then signs that you can pick. My 6 year old son and I went to an area of apples that had NO signs. Since we saw the signs that say do not pick, we assumed we could pick. Keep in mind we had not picked any apples from this area when someone came out SCREAMING at us to get out of the area bc the apples couldn’t be picked. When I say screaming I mean it. Keep in mind I am with my 6 year old who started crying as we got yelled at. A simple do not pick sign in this section like the other do not pick signs would have helped. And to scream and yell at us was not the best approach. Anyways, we will not be back and a great family day was ruined when we were yelled at and my 6 year old...

My mother, daughter and I went for a fruit picking experience and enjoyed ourselves TOTALLY and wholeheartedly! The family who runs the orchard is SO SO helpful and nice. They instructed us which ways to go to pick blueberries, raspberries and the 3 types of ripe apples, next week there will be a few more kinds ripe and ready to pick (also there were many kinds of veggies and herbs that we didnt have time to see/pick).. They have a huge orchard and all of the fruit is tasty and costs a lot less than if I had gone to the grocery store. All in all, it was great exercise for my family, and we took home plenty of sweet blueberries, raspberries and apples. We will be back in a few...