Fall is here – although it’s taking a while for the weather to catch up – and I wanted to review something in the spirit of the season. So, where better to go than a fruit farm with the apples and pumpkins in full harvest? Which is how I landed on Lynd Fruit Farms, a multi-product farm about half an hour from Upper Arlington High School.
When we got there, it felt like I was arriving at a full autumn festival. Food trucks were selling classic festival fare, like buckets of fries and funnel cakes, and rows upon rows of pumpkins were placed on wooden tables leading up to the door of the farm store. The entire entrance area was packed with people in every direction. It was also unfortunately very hot, but that didn’t hinder the autumnal feeling of the store even in the slightest. As we entered, we were bombarded with scents from every corner. One area was selling candied pecans, while others were filled with shelves of baked goods and apple cider.
I decided to get some autumnally flavored donuts, a caramel apple hand pie and a frozen apple cider. Altogether, it was a reasonable $14 after a long wait in line, along with a $15 half peck of apples (about 16) from the orchard.
The donuts came in a pack of six with two variations for $9. The first was an apple-spiced version covered in a sugar coating. Although this donut may have been even better heated up, it was absolutely spectacular. The sugar coating was sweet and added a nice crunch, the spiced flavor was autumnal and strong without overbearing the taste of the donut itself, and the texture was the perfect amount of chewy and soft. The second donut type was pumpkin. This donut had a sweet glaze covering it. The glaze melted when you bit into it and complemented the subtle pumpkin flavors of the donut perfectly. The donuts simultaneously felt homemade and as if they were straight out of a stand at a festival.
The second item I bought was a caramel apple hand pie. This was one of many options the hand pies came in: there was everything from various berry pies to peach and pumpkin. I chose the caramel apple because it was the most interesting and seasonal type they had. It was kept on a heated rack within the store where you could see the pies being made in the back. To my own complete fault, I dropped the hand pie on the way to buy it and smashed most of it, but it was still quite possibly one of the best things I’ve ever eaten. The apple filling was sweet and spiced with cooked apple in every bite, there were pockets of caramel popping out every once in a while, and the outside was flaky, buttery and crunchy pie crust with a sweet glaze. Altogether, the $5 hand pie was absolutely worth the price.
To follow the two baked goods, I got a frozen apple cider. It had the amazing taste of fresh apple cider that paired perfectly with the two sweeter foods that came before it. It was cold and refreshing for a very hot day, while still having the crisp taste of autumn. The frozen apple cider, which was $3 a cup and homemade in the store, was handed out in styrofoam cups, further adding to the farm-to-table feeling the entire farm store had.
Overall, the half-hour trip was worth the drive. The orchards and pumpkin patches were free to attend with a purchase of apples or pumpkins, respectively, and the farm was packed with people enjoying the season. The farm store had every fall essential you could ask for and more. They sold seemingly every vegetable Ohio can grow, decorations, specialty candies and plenty more. It was obvious the farm took pride in what they grew and were happy to share it with the world. Each of the different apple types had tasting stations in front of them so the buyer could find which apple they liked best before buying, and every single version of a pumpkin you could think of was available at the patch. The store had so many options that it was almost overwhelming, but it all just added to the homey, festival aesthetic of the entire place. The whole farm was an amazing experience and a trip I would highly recommend adding to anyone’s fall itinerary.
