An Apple-Eating Eden

During this October that's been so spectacular for sunny, warm weekends and incredibly juicy apples, we find ourselves going back again and again to Connecticut's apple orchards. Last weekend, we visited places at opposite ends of the spectrum--first was Gustafson's Farm and Orchard on Linkfield Road in Watertown. The farm itself is beautiful, with big open fields in all directions (they encourage you to walk around) and the shop is little more than a roadside stand, with bags of freshly picked apples, jars of honey and preserves and a cooler for soft drinks. We took in the quiet country scene, listened to the late-season crickets in the grass, bought a bag of Macouns and began eating them as soon as we got back into the car. The next day, we went to Lyman Orchards on Rte. 147 in Middletown, where it seemed a small city had converged to park cars, wander around, pick apples, go through a cornfield maze, feed the ducks and generally partake in the Indian summer scene. The excellent shop at the orchard was doing boomtown business, but the staff was keeping up with the crowds. We moved through quickly, grabbing four each of four kinds of apples, some pumpkin raisin muffins, a half-dozen pears, a jug of cider and some kettle corn. It all should just about last us till next weekend.