Help with the apple harvest on the Lower Rhine, watch the winegrowers in the Siebengebirge harvesting grapes from the hiking trail or wander through the Winterberger Hochheide to fill your basket with blueberries: The harvest season for regional delicacies begins in NRW in late summer - and continues into the autumn. You can sample them in the vineyards, under apple trees or in the mountain heath. Because the harvest tastes particularly good in the fresh air.
Apple harvest on the Lower RhineWith the harvest cart into the plantations
Organic apples are processed into the farm's own products at the Neuhollandshof in Wesel on the Lower Rhine. Every year in September and October, the fruit on the extensive apple orchards is ripe and waiting to be collected. Anyone interested can take part in the harvest: You can spend half a day or a whole day picking apples alone or with friends or family. And the reward comes fresh from the tree.
The Biological Station Haus Bürgel in Monheim am Rhein is also looking for energetic volunteers to help with the fruit harvest: on 19 September, apples and pears will be shaken from the trees and collected before being processed into "Trink-Mit" apple juice and "Bürgeler Obstbrand" fruit brandy.
Winterberg blueberry fieldsWatch out, you'll get blue fingers here!
High up on the Winterberg plateau at an altitude of over 800 metres, a true blueberry paradise awaits in summer and early autumn. From the end of June until September, the delicious berries can be picked directly from the bushes and savoured. And the Hochheide is not only a paradise for berry fans, but also offers numerous hiking trails, making it the ideal place for a day out in nature.
Wine hiking in the SiebengebirgeNRW's only wine-growing region
In autumn, the leaves in the vineyards of the Siebengebirge turn red and yellow and the grape harvest begins. Whether on a guided tour with wine tasting, on a hike on your own along the wine trail or directly to one of the winegrowers: lace up your hiking boots and off you go - through the only vineyards in your NRW. And if you feel like it, take a loop or two on the Rheinsteig trail through the legendary Siebengebirge mountains.
www.siebengebirge.com| www.virtuellesbrueckenhofmuseum.de/weinwanderweg
To get you in the mood for your visit to the vineyards of North Rhine-Westphalia, read the story of winegrower Felix Pieperwho grows his wine on the slopes of Drachenfels.
Collecting mushrooms in the RothaargebirgeMushroom seminars and forest excursions
Humid nights and warm days in autumn cause mushrooms to sprout from the ground in the Rothaargebirge. If you are unsure which mushroom is edible and which is better left in the forest, you can join an autumn excursion with a mushroom expert. Or attend a mushroom seminar directly. These are available at the mushroom museum in Bad Laasphe for beginners and advanced mushroom pickers. Hundreds of different mushrooms are also on permanent display there.
www.pilzmuseum.de
