Tourismus NRW e.V., Hannah Förster
Lending a hand with the apple harvest at the Lower Rhine, stopping on a hiking path to watch the vintners harvest wine in the Siebengebirge, or wandering the Winterberger high heath in order to fill one’s basket with blueberries: Late summer sets off the harvesting season for regional treats in NRW, which will last well into autumn. Sample the fruit in the vineyards, under apple trees, or in the mountain heath. After all, the harvest will taste the best in the fresh air.
Johannes Höhn
Apple harvest at the Lower Rhine
Into the orchards on the harvest cart
The Neuhollandshof on the Lower Rhine processes organic apples into the farm’s own products. The fruit is ripe for harvesting on the sprawling apple orchards every September and October. Anyone interested may spend a half or full day helping to collect apples either alone or with friends or family. The reward comes straight from the tree.
The Haus Bürgel biology station in Monheim on the Rhine is also looking for active volunteers to help with the fruit harvest: Apples and pears are to be shaken from the trees and collected on 19 September, to be processed into “Trink-Mit” apple juice and “Bürgeler Obstbrand” brandy.
Tourismus NRW e.V.
Winterberg blueberry fields
Caution! Blue fingers ahead!
A veritable blueberry paradise is waiting at altitudes in excess of 800 metres on the Winterberg high plateaus in summer and early autumn. From late June to September, the tasty berries can be picked and eaten right from the bushes. Beyond being a paradise for berry enthusiasts, the high heath also offers an ideal destination to spend a day in nature thanks to its many hiking trails.
www.imsauerland.de/auf-ins-blaue | www.winterberg.de/hochheide-kahler-asten
Ralph Sondermann
A wine hike in the Siebengebirge
NRW’s only viticulture area
Autumn is turning the leaves in the Siebengebirge vineyards red and yellow as the wine harvest commences. No matter if you prefer a guided tour with wine tasting or a solitary hike on the wine information trails: put on your hiking boots and get going in your NRW’s only vineyards. If you like, you can also go on a small detour or two along the Rheinsteig through the legendary Siebengebirge region.
www.siebengebirge.com | www.virtuellesbrueckenhofmuseum.de/weinwanderweg.html
Oliver Franke, Tourismus NRW e.V.
Collecting mushrooms in the Rothaargebirge
Mushroom seminars and forest excursions
Moist nights and warm days in autumn make the mushrooms shoot from the ground in the Rothaargebirge. If you are uncertain of which ones are edible and which ones are better left where they have grown, you can join an autumn excursion guided by a mushroom specialist or attend one of the mushroom seminars offered for beginners and advanced participants by the mushroom museum in Bad Laasphe. Hundreds of different mushrooms are permanently on exhibition there, too.
www.pilzmuseum.de