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<\/p>\nI\u2019m a proud mom of a three year old son and an infant daughter. I\u2019m also a proud third-generation\u00a0member and owner of my family\u2019s 500-acre fruit and vegetable farm, Hollabaugh Bros., Inc., located in\u00a0upper Adams county in south-central Pennsylvania. The sheer nature of being a part of a family business\u00a0intermingles my two worlds on an ongoing basis. But in the fall, my two pride and joy worlds really\u00a0collide. I try my hardest to keep my head above water with the mountains of work at the farm while\u00a0making time for every possible precious moment I can spend with my son, as the rapidity with which he\u00a0is growing, learning, and changing hasn\u2019t yet ceased to amaze me.<\/p>\n
Interestingly, and not altogether surprisingly, these worlds often collide by way of apples. We go for a\u00a0walk in the orchard, picking apples off the tree left behind by our pickers. We cook applesauce, peeling,\u00a0chopping, and stirring the apples to make the perfect blend. We share a fresh-sliced apple at the dinner\u00a0table. If living on an apple farm weren\u2019t enough reason to cause these worlds to collide, the nature of the industry in this area certainly would be.<\/p>\n
Pennsylvania, and specifically the south-mountain region of the state, is the 4th largest apple producer in\u00a0the United States. Agriculture is one of the two largest industries in Adams County, where our farm is\u00a0located, along with tourism.<\/p>\n
In the fall, it\u2019s hard to drive through our neck of the woods without seeing the apple industry at work:\u00a0from apples being harvested off of trees by quick-moving hands, tractors moving bins in and out of the\u00a0orchards, trucks transporting apples from field to factory, or tractor trailers hitting the highways, filled\u00a0to the brim with fresh or processed apples to fill grocery store shelves.<\/p>\n
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In the fast-paced world in which we all live, it\u2019s become far too easy to take it all for granted. To assume\u00a0that the apples will always just magically appear on the grocery store shelves, or that the applesauce will\u00a0just cook and package itself.<\/p>\n
But to our great fortune, another collision has helped us all to take a step back to appreciate our\u00a0dynamic industry. It\u2019s called Agri-tourism.<\/p>\n
A few short generations ago, it seemed that everyone was connected to a farm in some not-too-distant\u00a0way. Today, farm and ranch families comprise just 2 percent of the US population. And we see evidence\u00a0of that disconnect in our farm market every day. Brussels sprouts harvested on the stalk are purchased\u00a0not for the nutritional value, but for the sheer novelty of how they\u2019re grown.<\/p>\n
Agri-tourism allows us to reconnect the farm to the consumer. We do it in a number of ways on our\u00a0farm: farm tours, pick-your-own fruits, walking tours, CSA memberships, children\u2019s events, and festivals.\u00a0And others are doing it, too. The Gettysburg Wine and Fruit Trail offers dozens of farm markets,\u00a0wineries, and breweries in the south-mountain region that folks can visit to experience a taste of\u00a0agriculture. A local corn maze provides on-farm entertainment not unlike what you\u2019d get at an\u00a0amusement park, except with grass and corn instead of paved walkways and roller-coasters.<\/p>\n
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![\"People](\"https:\/\/www.hallowedground.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/apples-3.jpg\")
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And so, instead of sitting at my desk until dark, doing the work that never seems to stop piling up, I leave\u00a0the office. I hold my son\u2019s hand (I know all too well that in not too many years, it won\u2019t be cool to hold\u00a0my hand anymore), and we head out for a walk in the orchard, crunching on apples and marveling at the beauty of the season together. I highly recommend you do the same.<\/p>\n
Photos courtesy of the Adams County Fruit Growers Association.<\/p>\n