Adventures to Critz Farms Anonymous

Rolling fields of sunflowers stretch to each horizon. Every step you take you can hear the crunch of dried leaves that have recently drifted off the branches hanging above your head. There is not an inch of landscape that does not exude red, orange, and yellow hues. Wafting throughout the orchard is the overwhelming smell of apple cider doughnuts, a staple item that one cannot leave without.

As someone who grew up in the northeast, I often feel that apple picking seems like a guaranteed part of life. However, I know that those in the south clearly do not mark their calendars at the end of September and set out with bag in hand knowing it will be too heavy to carry once filled with the ripe apples. But it would not be fall to me if I did not take the annual pumpkin patch picture with my sister or come home to bake an apple pie with my dad. The fall season would be especially incomplete without me trudging out of the orchard, stomach aching from the near fifty apples I had eaten. Spending time with family is so valuable to me and this annual fall outing brings us closer together. I hope to expand this tradition once at Colgate by bringing friends along to Critz Farms.