It's Crunch Time for
Busy Apple Rancher

By Evelyn Abel of Placerville, California

It's loaded with apple-themed home accents, hand­ icrafts, souvenirs, cookbooks and more.
    Outdoors, in our horse arena, chil­ dren can climb onto a miniature horse, pony, quarter horse, paint or my gentle Norwegian Fjord. Adjacent to the Apple Barn, we have a cafe with soups, sandwiches and daily specials. On nice days, guests have lunch at picnic tables we set up in the pasture beside our pond.
   My four children have full-time jobs, but they stop by with my nine grandkids most weekends during apple season to help with chores. It takes all of us to build the Hay Maze in our play area from 600 bales. Plus, we have our Pumpkin Patch to fill and stack with hundreds of pumpkins for carving.
   Often, we take turns as tour guides leading school groups on wagon rides into the orchard. The students learn about apple ranching from blossom through harvest.
   During our off-season, I like to get my sons, daughters and grandkids together to taste the new recipes I've con­ cocted from my all-time favorite fruit. You can probably tell that my family is more than the apple of my eye—they're the whole orchard!

Editor's Note: For more on Evelyn's orchard, send a self-addressed stamped envelope to Abel's Apple Acres, P.O. Box 2204, Placerville CA 95667 . Or check her Web site at www. Countrywomanmagazine.com/links.

IF I could handpick a life that suits me, I wouldn't look any further than my family's California ranch. Everything I love most about the country grows on hundreds of fruit trees here at Abel's Apple Acres.
    Our orchard is nestled in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada east of Sacramento in a prime fruit-producing area called Apple Hill. We grow Red and Golden Delicious, Fuji, Red Rome, Granny Smith and Arkansas Black apples. Cur­ rently, the bins are brimming!
   Apples are a year-round job for us. In winter, we tackle pruning. Then, spring through summer, we spray, fertilize, mow and weed. Our big season for vis­ itors runs from Labor Day weekend through harvest to Christmas Eve.
   Right now, our huge Apple Barn is the hub of activity. We sell our entire crop directly to the thousands of cus­ tomers who visit in fall. Over the years, we've expanded the barn from an open- air fruit stand to a place where people can have a real apple adventure.
   The skilled cooks in our Bake Shop help me turn out apple breads, cakes, crisps, cookies, doughnuts, dumplings, fritters and 16 kinds of pie. Our Ranch

Pantry is loaded with apple butter, marmalade and sauce that my mother, Bula, cooks up from scratch.
   There's always a crowd around the antique copper kettle I use to make caramel apples. I love watching kids' faces as I dip fruit into the creamy coating. Folks who like shopping can get their fill in our Gift Store.

"Kids of all ages crowd around my caramel apple kettle."