Blog de Puree

Last Sunday, we couldn’t have asked for a better fall September day to go on our last apple picking trip as a couple.

Not wanting to travel far, we went to Amesbury’s own Cider Hill Farm, of which we’re somewhat proud to tell everyone is one of the best apple orchards in Essex County. A small working farm, Cider Hill has a variety of fruit and vegetable crops that visitors can pick themselves, such as strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, apricots, peaches, plums, nectarines, apples, pumpkins, and corn. They also have a farm store that’s stocked with a slew of local farm foods, a working honey bee hive and the best cider donuts within a 50 mile radius. Ohhhhhh, the cider donuts. [Drool]

The apple orchard works it’s way up a hill at the back of the farm property. If the 500 meter walk is too much for you, there’s a tractor pulling a hay-filled trailer that you can ride to the top of the hill.

A view of the orchard and farm from the back of the store.

Cider Hill farm also has gifts and assorted sundry items, including the coveted caramel apples. The day we went, Julie Hahnke, author of the children’s book “Through the Eyes of a Raptor” was selling signed copies of her book, as well as playing the bagpipe outside the store. And hey, who doesn’t love the bagpipes?

The view the farm store, parking lawn and green houses from about halfway up Cider Hill.

Finally, one last plug for Cider Hill farm: They have two working wind turbines, with plans to put in a third, to harness wind energy, rather than sucking electricity from coal, gas and nuclear powered plants. You can make them out in the picture above. They are left of center.

Some of the locals are a bit blown over about the wind turbines being installed and say that they “ruin the view,” but if it means paving the way for alternative energy sources in town and providing an example of making wind and solar power mainstream, we’re all for it.