Published: October 03, 2008 09:09 am      

Fall Fun Zones: Hawkins-Schwartz Orchard gearing up for annual Applefest

By KANDACE MCCOY

kandace.mccoy@register-news.com

Editor’s note: This is second in a continuing series of articles featuring fall fun zones in the Jefferson County area.

DIX — Fall usually means an array of colorful mums, pumpkins and apples, and at Hawkins-Schwartz Orchard and Market, customers can find a selection of those items in abundance.

This is the 11th year since Tom Schwartz has leased with Hawkins Orchard, and in addition to providing a variety of produce and products for customers, the orchard is also readying for its annual Applefest on Oct. 18 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

“There will be [inflatible] jumps for kids and face painting,” Schwartz said of the event, “and games and music. We’ll also have blackberry and peach cobbler and apple cider donuts.”

The market also offers regular and cherry apple cider, sugar free apple butters and low sugar jams and jellies. And while customers are perusing the market of its variety of apples and other products, there is also a straw maze for children to explore at no charge.

“You can hang around all day if you want, and it doesn’t cost anything,” Schwartz noted. And though he says there are “very few orchards” in the area compared to 20 years ago, orchards are a tradition where children and the public who visit can learn a valuable lesson by knowing where their fruit is grown and how it is marketed.

And with this spring’s wet season, he said this year’s apple crop is of “good quality,” with apples larger in size.

Hawkins-Schwartz Orchard and Market is located north of Mt. Vernon near Dix on Illinois 37 and is open from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily through November. Due to construction on a bridge three miles south of the market, customers are reminded to note Illinois Department of Transportation detour signs. For more information, you may call the orchard at 266-7756.