Lyman Orchards offers a quintessential New England day

ANNELISE GILBERT ’17
FEATURES EDITOR
Lyman Orchards is tucked away in the small town of Middlefield, Connecticut. The beautiful, rolling orchard is only a 30-minute drive away from Trinity and offers a great escape from the constant noise of Hartford. While the temperatures are still high, it’s a good time to take advantage of the summer and fall activities Lyman offers as we’re in this in between season.
In the fall, the “pick your own” section of Lyman is composed of hundreds of varieties of apples, peaches, pears, Asian pears, and pumpkins. Some of the summer fruits are still available too, such as strawberries and blueberries.
As you drive through the orchard, there are stands along the road in areas for picking where staff will provide you with bags and directions to your favorite fruits. After you spend about an hour wandering around and pretending you know the method for picking the best apple, pear, or peach, you head right back to the stand where you got your bags to weigh and pay.
While we waited for our fruit to be weighed, we were expecting it to be ridiculously expensive given the quality of the fruit and the farmers market atmosphere, but only ended up paying $16 for a dozen and a half big apples (Gala, McIntosh, and Honeycrisp), half a dozen peaches, and half a dozen pears.
For those who don’t have the time or desire to pick their own fruit, there’s the store, Apple Barrel. Inside the store, you can buy every type of fruit and vegetable grown on the estate as well as grab a yummy bite to eat. Their bakery boasts every type of apple pastry you can think of: apple pie, apple crumb cake, apple cider donuts, apple cupcakes, apple turnovers, apple pie pockets, apple croissants, and more. Then, for the ones without as much of a sweet tooth, there’s a vast assortment of sandwiches that showcase their fresh produce and support of local businesses.
In addition to all of their food related offerings, Lyman also takes advantage of their hundreds of acres in other ways. There are three golf courses on the property, two 18-hole and one 9-hole.Then for both younger kids and adults alike, they have a corn maze that’s open daily in the fall.
If you don’t have time to make it out to the orchard, but still want a taste of their famous pie, you can actually find them at local grocery markets such as Big Y and Weis. Before it becomes to cold, it’s best to take advantage of this old fall activity.