Looking for something fun to do on a Sunday afternoon, James & I decided to go apple picking, along with my mother and niece, Gabrielle.
Blake Farms has been in business since 1946 and operates 3 apple orchards and a cider mill. They specialize in an array of the freshest Michigan grown produce, most of which you pick yourself, including U-pick pumpkins and fresh cut Christmas Trees. They're also famous for their freshly pressed apple cider, fresh doughnuts, fudge, jams, jellies, honey and many other tasty treats!!
Here are a couple shots from inside the small market at Blake's Big Apple Orchard.
Some fresh tomatoes, eggplant and garlic! Makes me crave Eggplant Parmesan!
With provided bags in hand, James and I headed out to the apple orchards! The trees were just screaming with apples waiting to be picked! 
We picked many varieties such as McIntosh, Early Fugi, Molly Delicious, Gala, Honey Crisp, Cortlands, etc....
As well as some of the most delicious Bartlett Pears!
Oh my, what to do with all these apples??? All in all, I think James and I picked close to 2 bushels of apples and pears!
Pumpkins were almost ready for picking, but I think they needed time to grow much larger!
After apple picking, it was off to the raspberry patch! Picking the raspberries was a bit of a challenge because the bees were EVERYWHERE! Guess that's a good sign, though! We need the bees!
The raspberries were plump and juicy. Snacking while picking was encouraged! Because there were so many bees, though, we only managed to pick about 2 pints.
The orchard offers tractor pulled hay rides for guests. These are especially popular at night during the Halloween season!
Getting ready for the Halloween season, James has made a new friend!
Setting up a "Haunted" attraction for the kids! Halloween is the best time around here as they offer haunted hay-rides, haunted barn attractions and a scary corn maze!
