Walk the pick-it line

PATCH WORK Go back in time and bring home a pumpkin from Decker Farm.

Apples and pumpkins are autumn's way of getting us out of the city (or at least the borough). With a train or car to get you there, a day in the orchard is a chance to breathe fall's crisp air, sink your teeth into a crunchy Jonah Gold and convince your kids that applesauce doesn't originate in a jar.

Breezy Hill Orchard
Rather than take the subway to Union Square, drive to Dutchess County, where those gorgeous Empires and Macouns grow. A founding farmer of the Union Square Greenmarket, Elizabeth Ryan has 50 different apple varieties and, for those who are too pooped to pick, offers some tasty homemade European ciders. Ryan is also planning a Cajun Festival some time this fall—a weekend of picking, eating and dancing to the tunes of Louisiana's Basin Brothers band.
828 Centre Rd, Staatsburg, NY (845-266-3979). Call for directions. Labor Day–Halloween. Weekends 9am–6pm. Prices unavailable at press time.

Decker Farm–Historic Richmond Town
Here's your chance to visit the last working farm in New York City (who knew?). Get a taste of 19th-century farm life while taking a hayride through the fields, navigating a corn maze and picking a pumpkin to carry home ($1–$7, depending on size).
441 Clarke Ave, Staten Island (718-351-1611; www.historicrichmond town.org). Travel: From the Staten Island Ferry Terminal, take the S74 bus to Historic Richmond Town; then take the free shuttle bus one mile to the farm. Call for bus directions from Brooklyn. Pumpkin picking Oct 2–31. Weekends 11am–4pm. $3 per person (includes round-trip shuttle); corn maze $5.

Fort Salonga Farm
Farmer William Cahill planted his first apple tree back in 1974; 30 years later, his farm has 67 varieties. The trees here are dwarfed, so fruit hangs as low as 18 inches off the ground—perfect for shorties. Pumpkins are for sale (39¢ a pound), as is the farm's famous apple slurpy, a semi-frozen concoction made from pure apple cider, a bargain at $1 a cup.
30 Meadow Glen Rd, Northport, Long Island (631-269-9666; www.fortsalongafarm.com). Travel: LIRR to Kings Park, then take a taxi one mile to the farm. Apple picking Aug 15–late Oct. Pumpkins available mid-Sept– Halloween. Open seven days a week, 10am–5pm. $10 per person for a ten-pound bag. Additional apples $1 per pound.

Outhouse Orchards
Third-generation farmer Wayne Outhouse offers tasty apples for kids to pick and pumpkins, laid out in a field, for Dad to lug. Attractions abound—hayrides, pony rides and a country store with fresh doughnuts and cider. Goats and chickens round out the day and, hopefully, tire out the kids for the ride home.
Hardscrabble Road, Croton Falls, NY (914-277-3188). Travel: Metro-North to Croton Falls, then take a taxi one mile to the farm (Al's Taxi is across from the station). Mid-Sept–late Oct. Weekends 10am–5pm. 2004 prices were not set at press time. In 2003, apples cost $25 per bag (40–50 apples).