Apple Hill is a two-and-a half hour drive from Reno and yet it's a world away. Whether it's Golden Delicious, Pink Lady Apples or old Red Romes, you can find it in Apple Hill in Northern California. The High Hill Ranch is the first ranch you come to in the area and it's the largest. But every ranch has its own thing. At High Hill it's a trout pond and a hay ride while at others it's pumpkin patches, and even a train. But they all have apples; tons and tons of apples.
"Each of these bins is 900-1,000 pounds," says Jerry Visman who owns the High Hill Ranch. "And we go through 11 or 1,200 of these every season. That's more than a million pounds of apples!"
And what's not sold in bulk is put into everything apple you can imagine. Apple fritters, apple wine, apple beer, apple milk shakes, cider, caramel apples and lots of apple pies.
They make 45,000 apple pies at the Pie House. It's like an assembly line of pie makers to keep up with the demand and the lines never stop. In addition to all things apple, you'll find artisans and crafters.
"This really is one of the last true harvest festivals around. Not only are there apples that you can pick or you can pick up from the bins, there's apple cider pressed here and all the crafters here make their art here. Like the sculptor over there with his torch going, or the glass workers. They aren't allowed to just bring things in they have to make them themselves."
Molly Bennett makes Tahoe Fire Glass. And she organizes the rest of the artisans.
And so the families come, they enjoy and they take a little bit of the season home for pies, apple sauce and a caramel apples to help that holiday feeling last the year through.Â
