Alex Ryan Thompson
Food Systems and Safety Agent
Greenville, Spartanburg, Pickens, Anderson, and Oconee Counties

In the Carolinas, autumn means apples. While Western North Carolina may be well known for its apple orchards, Upstate South Carolina has its own thriving network of apple growers. Orchards featuring farm stores, U-Pick, apple-centric treat and beverages, and bushels of fun for the whole family can be found across the Upstate, from Oconee to York counties. To find an orchard near you, check out https://certifiedsc.com/.
Cool autumn days lure many to grab the family, their jackets and a wagon; ready to revel in the crisp, sweet, and crunchy bounty of our Upstate apple orchards. One can find few better ways to spend an autumn afternoon than wandering through seemingly endless rows of apple trees, heavy with a summer’s worth of love, care, and attention from their tenders. Swept up in the magic of the day, more than a few families find themselves arriving home with a trunk nearly bursting open with apples. Whimsy quickly gives way to worry, as the realization hits that not even the most apple-loving family can eat THAT many fresh apples before they end up bound for the compost heap. Fret not, family of over-eager apple-pickers, there is a bounty of ways to preserve and make those apples last all the way until next autumn.
Apples
can be turned into a cornucopia of treats and pantry staples, ready to keep the
spirit of autumn alive year-round. Cover your favorite morning toast with a
slather of apple jelly or beautifully spiced apple butter, which also makes a
great addition to a BBQ sauce! Warm everyone’s hearts and stomach with a fresh
apple pie, made from home canned or frozen apple pie filling. Cook the apples
down into applesauce or dry them into chips for a quick and easy snack for
apple lovers of all ages. Press or juice these apples into cider, that can be
drunk fresh, canned for year-round cider, or fermented into hard cider for an
autumnal adult beverage. Dress up any of these homemade treats with some
decorative packaging and ribbon for a quick and easy way to cross names of your
Christmas shopping list. The options are many and learning to preserve the
Upstate’s apple bounty is easy! Visit the Clemson Home and Garden Information
Center Factsheet 3120 Preserving Apples (https://hgic.clemson.edu/factsheet/preserving-apples)
or contact Alex Ryan Thompson by phone at (864) 365-0628 or by email art6@clemson.edu
to learn more.
Happy Autumn and Happy Apple Picking!