As the days get shorter and night temperatures fall, we look for ways to be outside and to be cozy before winter arrives. Pumpkin and Halloween decorations, hearty stews and casseroles, outdoor fires with s’mores, and farm stands all feed our love of the changing seasons.
And then there’s apples: crisp apples eaten raw, applesauce and apple crisp, apple tarts and pies, and apple cider. I remember a second-grade field trip to an apple farm where I tasted my first sip of apple cider and left with a fresh apple. When my children were young, we visited Danny Boy’s Market in North Olmsted where we could choose from an overwhelming variety of apples and devour fresh-baked apple fritters. When I spy Patterson’s apple cider at the supermarket, I buy it without hesitation.
In Northeast Ohio, we can’t ignore apples. It seems like every time we drive into the country, a roadside stand or farm market beckons us to stop for apples, cider and baked goods. And then there are the cider mills, which are less numerous but worth looking for. Becoming immersed in Apple Time is nostalgic, fun and delicious, and it’s worth an afternoon’s time.
Pickering Hills Farm in Avon sells all things fall at this time of year, including apples and cider, cornstalks and Indian corn, pumpkins and mums. A well-established business, the farm’s roots are in the mid 1800s when Jack Pickering arrived from England to establish a ranch and meat business. His son Frank expanded into produce and built the market in the 1800s. The family still owns the farm and market on Detroit Road and an additional farm in Grafton Township. During their October fall festival, the farm provides hayrides and a one-acre corn maze. The bakery provides fresh apple fritters and hot or cold cider is available.
There are many other markets to explore. Mapleside Farms in Brunswick is enormously popular with its themed weekends of live entertainment, a corn maze, orchard train tours, a super slide, and giant jump pillows. Red Wagon Farms in Columbia Station has a five-acre corn maze, a corn kernel sandbox, a food tent and apple cider. At Heavenly Hill Farm in North Royalton, Hillside Orchard & Farm Market in Hinckley, and Patterson Fruit Farm in Chesterland, you can also pick your own apples. From where I live in western Cuyahoga County, it’s hard not to stop at Burnham Orchards and Quarry Hill Orchards in Berlin Heights.
With all the apples, it’s surprising that cider mills are overlooked. I just became aware of the seasonally open Moe’s Cider Mill in Vermilion, which dates back to 1916. Frank and Rose Moe grew fruit on his father’s land and built the mill to press grapes and apples, and it was their son Nelson who started making cider and added a farm market stand. Even as the vineyards and orchards became surrounded by new development, the press continued to make juice from fruit purchased from local growers. Moe’s sells unpasteurized apple cider, apple cider doughnuts, caramel apples, cider vinegar and apples. The mill opens for cider season this weekend.
Many farm markets that produce apples also make cider. Quarry Hill is one of them, and the winery at the top of the hill grows and presses its own grapes. Beckwith Orchards Cider Mill in Kent, River Styx Cider Mill in Wadsworth, and Haus Cider Mill in Canfield all press apples to make cider. The unique selling point at Howard’s Apples Farm Market in Chagrin Falls is their apple cider slushie, but they also have apples, pumpkins and squash.
And then there’s hard cider, a different genre. If you’re celebrating apples, why not indulge in ciders? Arsenal Cider House in Cleveland, Bent Ladder in Doylestown and Redhead Cider House in Berlin Heights sell hard cider. Find more cider houses at ciderguide.com/ohio-cider-map-directory/.
Looks like it’s time for me to roam country roads looking for apples and cider, just like I did when I worked on my winery books. And I haven’t even visited the 300-plus wineries in Ohio! Have fun out there, and happy fall.
Claudia J. Taller has been writing for Cool Cleveland since shortly after its inception. She is the author of four books and has written many articles for local and national magazines. Find out more about her at http://claudiajtaller.com/.