[Gift] Apple Harvest: Farro's Farm

Dawn filtered through the window of Farro’s farmhouse, warming their face and making them crinkle their nose sleepily. Blinking their blurry eyes open, they squinted their mismatched eyes at the window, disappointed to already be awoken from their blissful slumber. But before they could get too despondent about it, the scent of freshly brewed coffee wafted to their nose. Mentally blessing their newest purchase of a coffee pot with a brew timer, they sleepily smiled and rolled themself out of bed. As they shuffled around their room to gather up their clothes for the day, the sleepy snuffles of Finley and Sawyer in their big impbed began. Sawyer was the first to pop up onto his paws and stretch, blinking up at his owner and pad over to them to “yip” happily.

“Mornin’, Sawyer.” Farro smiled, kneeling to give the little imp a ruffle between his ears. “Now come on, Finley, time to get up. Chow’s about to be served.” They smiled when immediately the other impup bolted out of his bed and skittered over to the door, tail steadily wagging. Chuckling, and finishing their dressing, the opened the door to the rest of the farmhouse for the impups to race toward the kitchen. Farro knew that Hutch was adamant about imps not needing to eat… but Sawyer and Finley - especially Finley - always seemed so excited to start the day if it started out with a nibble of their favorite treats. 

The first thing they did when reaching the kitchen was fill their impup’s bowls with a little scoop, then it was a beeline for the coffee pot. Pouring themself a hefty cup and plucking one of the apple muffins from the day before out of their fridge, they settled at their table with The Bun Farmer’s Almanac to flip through for advice on the year. 

By the time their indulgent morning ritual was finished, the sun had finished rising, steady on the horizon just the way Farro liked for the start of their work day. So they placed their dishes in the sink, grabbed their straw hat and boots from beside the front door, and headed out whistling for their impups to follow. 

Their check of most of their farm was quick as they’d been focusing on it in the time leading up to apple harvest most. They knew it would have to take a little bit of a backseat in their routine once the apple trees were ready to be picked, so it had been necessary. A few carrots and other produce was ready to be picked so they took the time to do so and with a half full little basket they made their way into the orchard. The impups scampered around the trees, sniffing around for any pests which might be troubling their home; and Farro pulled a few branches down as they went to check on the trees overall health and the state of their fruit. 

Most of them were as Farro remembered them, perfectly ready for harvest; but there had been a few towards the back of the orchard which had worried Farro with their late start. So that was where their boots would inevitably take them. Climbing up the ladder they had left there yesterday, the Greed-Bun checked the fruits carefully over for size and color to ensure their quality. Squinting at a few of them, they mumbled to themself, “Well they’re not quite perfect, but there’s only one way to be sure about them.” Carefully twisting off one of the smaller fruits, they crunched into it. “Crisp and sweet for sure..” They took another nibble looking over their bite marks as they continued to speak their thoughts out into the air, “It’s a bit grainier than I would like; but I doubt most Buns would notice..” Mulling over the ethical dilemma of putting these little apples out into Burrowgatory, they carefully climbed down the ladder still nibbling on the one they had plucked. “I think I’ll just rope off these trees before I open up the orchard to visitors this year.. It’ll give me a little supply for my personal treats and make sure nobun takes home any unsatisfactory apples.” Nodding at their own decision, they set out (apple now held in their teeth, removed only occasionally to indulge in a bite) to rope off the five trees which wouldn’t be accessible to the public. After they were effectively cut off with Farro’s patented purple rope, the Greed-Bun sat down with their back against one of the trees to finish their treat, Finley and Sawyer immediately tackling them to settle into their lap. 

They felt themselves gradually dozing off with the warmth of their impups in their lap and the sun filtering through the leaves above. And while it certainly was tempting to drift off into a nap in their orchard… the day had just begun and there was a lot more to do. Groaning, they nudged their impups off their lap. “Alright guys, I love you; but you gotta get up. I can’t nap right now and y’all makin’ me sleepy.” 

Both the impups whined at their statement but slunk off their lap, pouting on the ground next to them. To appease them, Farro hefted the core of the apple they had finished and tossed it across the orchard, “Go fetch boys!” And immediately they were off chasing it and later wrestling with one another to be the one to get it, beginning a game of keep away and continuing their play around the orchard as Farro set to work harvesting a small collection to fill the rest of their basket. It took a few hours to pick the right apples for their classic caramel apples and have a few more snacks along the way of course. Counting the apples after they were done they wound up with a baker's dozen. “Perfect. Twelve to sell ,and one for me.” They hummed, and swung their basket absently on the way back towards the farmhouse. “I’m going home, boys! You coming?” They called back towards their imps, but no reply came since they seemed too busy with their game to pay Farro any mind. That was fine, they’d find their way home when they finally tuckered themselves out. 

Setting the basket on the table, Farro went about putting away everything but the apples in its proper pantry places. Then they pulled out the supplies for their candied apples, setting up their usual stations for the first batch of the season. The cooking process was full of taste tests and quality checks of the caramel and homemade honey roasted peanuts which they would later be rolled in.

Putting on the finishing touches on the plate, Farro looked over the apples to make sure they would be alright to sell and nodded in approval before biting into their own. The sweet, sticky, crunchy treat was satisfying with the silky caramel and just barely tart apples complimented by the mildly salty peanuts. Sweeping the plate off the table and snatching up their yearly sign, they carefully made their way to the front gate of their farm. Setting out the stand and setting the sign up they settled down under it boots comfortably up on the table. 

Welcome to Farro’s Farm!
Caramel Apples: 12 Carats per Apple!
Pick Your Own Apples: 30 Carats per Basket!