We Southerners require creativity to welcome in the fall; especially considering central and southern Floridans. We substitute artificial leaves and pumpkins for the real deal, and burn Pumpkin Spice candles hoping the fragrance will bring on a cold-front for the Friday night football game. Any excuse to wear a jean jacket and cowboy boots will do as well. Not to mention the obsession with seasonal drinks and forgoing the swimming pool just because it is September!
Now I think I have hit an all-time low, or high, in spurring on the season: taking the kids apple picking at the local Publix “orchard.”
We observed and identified over seven varieties of the 7,500 available world-wide and also acquired the finest apple butter and apple chips that the Publix harvest boasts. To say we had a bushel-full would be a stretch, but the tasting party was quite fun.
We also put our local selection to use as an alternative paint brush.
keep my commandments and live;
keep my teaching as the apple of your eye;~Proverbs 7:2
Keep me as the apple of your eye; hide me in the shadow of your wings,
~Psalm 17:8
Our “farm to table” (maybe that’s farm to factory to table) pickings were first read about in the following books:
A note to parents: the last two books, especially the later, present a time frame for the origin of earth being within the last two million years. I believe that the Bible teaches a younger earth: roughly 6,000-10,000 years old. Rather than avoiding these books, I use such statements to demonstrate that not all “facts” in non-fiction genres are factual, but can be biased beliefs or assumptions based on the worldview of the author.
We also watched this childhood favorite, The Legend of Johnny Appleseed.
Finally, these two books make nice additions to the mix:
Looking at all the beautiful apple skins, smells, and textures of the inner flesh of the apple, I marvel that David prayed for God to keep us as the apple of His eye. Ponder the thousands of varieties of apples compared with the uniqueness of man. What does the science behind mere apples suggest about our Savior, His creativity, His scope of knowledge and the glory due His name?
Now grab a cart and get to picking!
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