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Knowlan Family Farm

Picking Peaches and Blueberries Knowlan Family Farms

The above video was taken on July 16, 2022. I had never picked peaches or blueberries before!

2017

I just wanted a photo of an apple against a blue sky!

We visited Knowlan Family Farm on September 10, 2017. I am excited that another apple orchard has opened up in the Cape Girardeau area. I have always missed Beggs in Jackson ever since it closed down. It was a tradition every year to take my sons to Beggs to ride the tractor up to the orchard to pick our own apples. It is such a simple, classic fun activity for this time of year. Our society today seems to want more and more exciting wow moments when I crave the simple moments of finding joy in the little things. I crave peace, not hype.

The drive is only 22 minutes from Cape Girardeau, not much further than it was going to Beggs. Take the main road between Cape and Jackson (Highway 72) and keep going all the way through Jackson until you turn left on Highway 34 going towards Marble Hill and Bollinger Mill. It is only about 3 or 4 miles from the intersection of Highway 72 and Highway 34. In fact, it would make a great day trip to continue on to visit Bollinger Mill in the same day.

The Knowlans have a nice country store which is where you stop in first. This is not just an apple orchard! In June they have peach picking. I bought some really sweet tasting cherry tomatoes and a bell pepper. One has to catch everything in season, including the grass-finished beef. The home decorations were well priced and tempting. I also bought some honey from Caruthersville and some lovely white decorative pumpkins. I wanted some of the fresh apple cider, but there are a few addicts out there they buy it up as soon as it is available.

There is a cute area to sit to take photos before the ride on the tractor. The apple tree fields begin immediately behind the building.

All the identification signs at the end of each row of apple trees made me realize how many varieties of apples would be available. It was explained that only the marked rows were available that weekend as each variety ripens at a different time. This would just make me want to come back again another time to try another variety. There were some I had heard of and some I had never heard of. The Knowlans were very friendly and took the time to educate us about the different types of apples, their taste, and their uses, as well as tips on identifying each.

We were encouraged to eat an apple while we were picking to make sure we liked that variety before purchasing, but I felt too guilty to eat something I had not paid for. Maybe next time I will get over that and have fun eating an apple while walking in an orchard. It is about the simple things! Shhh, maybe a kiss in an orchard too?

I found the orchard to be much different than the Beggs orchard I remembered. At Beggs the trees were more of the classic trees we see in doodles and children's books. The trees at the Knowlans are a shorter variety especially for apple picking. There is no need to get a dangerous ladder out to get to apples up high.

There is nothing like the taste of an apple straight from the tree. I want to cook with them, but they may just get eaten before I can get to baking.

Beyond the trees is so much more to be seen, but I will have to come back for that when it is in season.

As always, I just love photography no matter where I am at and I just wanted a photo of apples against the blue sky. I did get several, but this was my favorite to share. Red, blue and green are nature in the basics of the color wheel.

There is nothing like a bowl of apples on the kitchen table to welcome you, not only to the room, but to Fall itself. Nothing like nature itself to decorate the house.

Life is about the little things, like the green leaf that remains on the apple.