Welcome to my organic gluten free life! Knowing where my food comes from is extremely important to me. I love buying local as much as possible. Any opportunity I have to purchase from local growers is my first choice.
Autumn is one of my favorite times of the year. I love all the fall decorations, the pumpkins, the changing colors of the leaves and probably most of all the apples! I love to can applesauce in preparation for those cold winter months ahead. It is a wonderful feeling to see all those freshly canned jars of applesauce lining my shelves. However my husband’s favorite would be all the delicious apple pies I make during the Fall season.
We recently visited our favorite local apple orchard, just one of the many times this season. Gravert’s Apple Basket Orchard is located about seven miles north of Sabula, Iowa on Highway 52. The orchard is nestled among the rolling hills of beautiful northeast Iowa. This is a photo of the front of their quaint little building that holds the many varieties of apples and pears they carry during the season. Their General Store has lots of vintage 1930’s kitchen collectibles mixed among the many varieties of apples and pears.
This variety called “Bonnie’s Best” is a favorite for baking. It is very tart and makes a great apple pie staying slightly firm after baking.
Gravert’s does carry already made apple pies. I am gluten free so these are not an option for me so I buy the apples and make my own. My gluten free apple pie recipe will be included below.
I love shopping the vintage kitchen collectibles. You never know what treasure I may find that I can’t come home without. I’m a pushover for pie plates.
Here is just a small selection of the many apples available. It changes weekly as the ripening dates vary for the different types of apples and pears. I love the helpful signs that give you all the uses for the different apple varieties whether it be baking, sauce, or eating.
They also carry tart pie cherries. They are open for one week during the summer season for fresh cherries and then have available frozen pitted cherries during the apple season.
Aren’t these beautiful apples? Gravert’s Apple Basket Orchard is not an organic orchard but chemicals used are kept as minimal as possible. They do also offer You Pick. You can’t get any fresher than that. They offer 40 varieties of apples and four varieties of pears and are open late August through mid November.
For more information on Gravert’s Apple Basket Orchard please visit their website at: www.gravertorchard.com They also have a Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/Graverts-Apple-Basket-Orchard-188016231273206/