Amongst all the craziness of moving the last bit of our stuff and starting a new teaching year, family time has been in short supply. We decided to remedy the situation and took a family stay-cation to the Petrofka Orchards. We first encountered the Orchards two years ago when we set off for a canoe trip. We drove along the road beside the orchard, and wondered if the property was something special. It is.
When we first arrived we were greeted by one of the owners, who instantly made us feel at home. She immediately asked our son if he wanted to see all the apples, and proceeded to take us to their massive cooler full of Saskatchewan-grown apples. These were not your average crab apples. Most of the apples were the same size or larger than what you would expect to find in the grocery store.
We had to take a bag of Prairie sensation home with us, and they were amazingly delicious. I am maybe-kind-of hoarding them. Dominic has to promise to eat the whole apple if he wants one.
Anyway, we started our adventure by walking the gorgeous trails around the property.
Maps are provided, and our little navigator took his job seriously. You can do as much or as little as you like, and everything is clearly marked on the trail.
My only complaint is that you can’t walk through the orchards. They are not a U-pick operation so it’s understandable.
The leaves were so gorgeous when we went, so we walked the perimeter, to the river, and through crabby kid lane, of course. Dominic wasn’t actually crabby at this point in the day. We just made him frown for the picture.
Through “de short way” and “de long way” trail you are rewarded with stunning views of the river and a perfect place to picnic. In fact, the owners encourage picnics and the area can be booked for events. We, however, did not bring a picnic and were quite sorry.
After our walk we could not resist picking up a few treats at the store. A bag of apples, of course, the apple sausage, apple mustard, apple chips, and a Saskatoon Berry Rhubarb Pie all made their way into the cart. They have pretty much anything you could possibly make with apples, and everything we bought was delicious.
The best part? It’s only 35-40 minutes outside of Saskatoon. If you’re looking for a nice family afternoon destination, this is it. If you’re willing to go a little bit farther, the Crooked Bushes are about an hour away from the Orchard.
The crooked bushes were a much smaller area than I expected, but a cool site to see nonetheless. They are an aspen grove that as the name implies, grow crooked. No one has figured out why they grow that way, and the grove 20 feet away from them grow perfectly straight.
Do you know of any cool Saskatchewan gems that are a must see? Let me know in the comments where your family likes to go and what makes it awesome.
This is NOT a sponsored post. All opinions are my own and I need things to write about until I can dig into the renovations again.
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Kristen is a former farm kid turned urban gardener who owns the popular gardening website, Shifting Roots. She is obsessed with growing flowers and pushing the limits of what can be grown in her zone 3b garden. She also loves to grow tomatoes, but oddly enough, dislikes eating them raw.
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