Bring the harvest home

Bite into the season's freshest apples along the Blue Ridge Parkway.

If you want to taste the best of autumn, visit a North Carolina orchard. Barber Orchards Fruit Stand in Waynesville, 36 miles west of Asheville, captures the season in classic fashion.

Their apples, pumpkins, and freshbaked goods fill the mountain air with that crisp, sweet, tart, slightly vinegary smell that comes only this time of year. Customers buzz around like yellow jackets. Getting there is half the fun, especially if you take the Blue Ridge Parkway, which makes for a bit longer but prettier drive from Asheville.

"How many apple pies do you want?" asks owner Jane Arrington, as she pecks at the cash register. The customer's answer doesn't come right away, because she is a bit distracted. All around her, apples, pumpkins, and gourds gleam from paper sacks and wooden crates. People mill about, gazing at the array of goodies.

While Jane waits to ring up the sale, employee Charlotte Rogers slices samples of the many selections for sale as she explains their differences. "Jonagold has a tangy, sweet flavor," she says. "It's a good eating apple. Pink Lady is a newer variety and has a nice sweet and tart flavor."

As if that weren't tempting enough, just about every variation on the apple theme is made here. Apple muffins, apple cake, strawberry-apple pie, apple turnovers, jellies, cider, and their kin seem to say, "Take me home." Few things in life can rival a still-warm apple turnover, and few places do it with more flavor than Barber Orchards. Their cider-fresh-pressed from this season's harvest-is some of the most refreshing we've ever had.

Part of the attraction here is the locals chatting about everything from the first frost to college football rivalries. Waynesville residents Evelyn and Glenn Brown come here to load up on the produce and catch up on what's happening around town.

They patiently wait their turn as the distracted customer realizes Jane is waiting on the apple pie answer. With apologies, and then a gleam in her eye, she responds, "Did you ask me how many apple turnovers I want? I want all of them." MARK G. STITH

Barber Orchards Fruit Stand: (828) 456-3598. Location: a quarter mile from downtown Waynesville on Kelly Street (look for the signs).

APPLES ABOUND ON THE BLUE RIDGE

Here are our picks of the best orchards and apple vendors.

* Sky Top Apple Orchard, Pinnacle Mountain, Flat Rock; (828) 692-7930

* The Orchard at Altapass, near Spruce Pine, Blue Ridge Parkway at Orchard Road; 1-888-765-9531

* Dogwood Hills Fruit & Berry Farm, 369 Ox Creek Road, Weaverville; (828) 645-6286

* Barnwell's Orchard, New Stock Road, Weaverville; (828) 692-0118

* Grandad's Apples 'N' Such, U.S. 64 East, Hendersonville; (828) 685-1685

Copyright Southern Progress Corporation Oct 2003
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