For pies baked right on the farm, take a trip to Placerville’s Hooverville Orchards

As we wound our way down a quiet country road about 5 minutes outside of downtown Placerville, that road took us through a slight split in the mountains, and into what appeared to be a little shire. Rolling green hills studded with trees and a few rare homes, marked this landscape. It felt like driving through the countryside of a Tolkien book. I knew we were only a few minutes away from Highway 50, but the quiet, and the serenity, made it seem much much farther away. Small friendly signs, painted in bright green and red colors, guided us to a mysterious destination called Hooverville Orchards. It was particularly easy to follow the signs to the happy place they directed us to, like skipping down the yellow brick road. The Hooverville Orchards was not our intended destination that morning, but we were drawn in by the surroundings, the family friendly farm, and the promise of fresh baked pies. We knew we had reached the farm when the large arches of a ranch entrance sign, carved out of wood and painted in the now familiar red and green colors of an orchard apple, framed the path into the farm. There were groves of citrus trees and apple trees bordering both sides of the road. A woman pruning one of the trees give us a great smile and a friendly wave as our vehicle passed. A member of the Hoover family no doubt. The path let us directly to the fully stocked bakeshop, and several bins of citrus and apples, that looked like they had just been picked that morning. Inside the bakeshop there were homemade jams and jellies pies and cakes. It was a bakeshop of your grandmother’s dreams. A woman in the back was rolling out dough for piecrust. We picked out apple pie and pecan pies, we intended to share with friends and family. The kids picked out their own confections. We couldn’t resist the colorful jams and jellies, they even had strawberry rhubarb. I don’t even like pecan pie, but I think I must’ve eaten half of one on my own. The pastry chefs at Hooverville Orchards can really bake a mean pie. In the jams and jellies, don’t let that innocent label fool you, it was the absolute best I have ever tasted. The strawberry rhubarb jam, was gone in less than two days. I could hardly believe that the absolute best pies and jams, were within less than half hours driving distance of my house. Hooverville Orchards, they are open all year round, and every day except Christmas. And thank goodness, because once you taste their pies, you’ll be forever going back for more. FacebookTwitterPinterestFacebook MessengerCopy LinkSMSPrintFriendlyShare