Apple of My Eye: Fall Harvest Days in Harrisburg, Oregon

October 12, 2007

By Andrea Hartman

From the sight of orange pumpkins and red leaves to the feeling of cool air on my face, fall has long been my favorite time of year. And on this chilly but beautiful October weekend, the girls and I headed out in search of the quintessential fall activity, for the quintessential fall day.

We headed for the cozy farm town of Harrisburg, Oregon, where we came upon Detering Orchards, just in time to join in their Apple Days fun. Read: free apple pie, apple cider and lots of apple picking!


With our priorities well in line, we headed straight for the apple pie, served with a side of vanilla ice cream. The pie was so tasty and apples so fresh, eating ice cream in sub-50 degree temperature was hardly a sacrifice. We washed it all down with fresh (also cold) apple cider.

After taking in the sites (fresh produce galore!) and the sounds (loud, toe-tapping country music), we grabbed our buckets and headed for the orchard.


From Gravensteins to Red Delicious, the perfectly lined rows of trees appeared to stretch on into eternity. We began our quest for the best (very crisp, and sweet, but not too sweet) crop, sampling along the way. Before we knew it, we were deep into the orchard, away from anything remotely reminding us of the city. We were surrounded by trees, their branches heavy with Oregon’s bounty, and our buckets heavy with apples to take home.

For your own apple adventure, a trip to Detering Orchards (http://www.deteringorchards.com/)
is a must. You can find the farm on Wyatt Drive between the small towns of Coburg and Harrisburg. A large bucket of U-pick apples will only set you back about $5.

The fun never ends when you live in Oregon! Next weekend we are taking a fall drive on the Aufderheide National Forest Scenic Byway, and we will put our fears to the test in a trek through a haunted corn maze!

Editor's Note: Andrea Hartman is a Tourism Assistant at the Convention and Visitors Association of Lane County Oregon. She spends her weekends soaking up all that Oregon has to offer… from farm fun to fall foliage! Andrea travels in and around her native Lane County, and frequently heads north to Salem, where her husband is from. Look out for more of Andrea's Willamette Valley blogs, coming soon!

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