Fall friend spotted at Garden of Eden

Despite a rather warm Homecoming, the temperature is dropping, the winds off the Hudson are blustering, and Alma’s nose is beginning to take on a slightly reddish tint – all sure signs that fall is here. Not everyone can escape to a pumpkin patch or apple orchard upstate, so Managing Editor Betsy Ladyzhets has compiled a list of ways you can celebrate the season in the middle of MoHi.

• The farmers’ market, set up on Broadway every Thursday and Sunday, has stalls full of apple products. Apples, apple cider, apple cider donuts, apple turnover… you can get it all there. Pretend you’re going apple picking as you go through the wooden boxes to grab the ripest fruits.
• If you can’t make the farmers’ market, there are other great apple vendors in the neighborhood. Garden of Eden, a lesser-known grocery store on Broadway and 107th Street, sells apples from local orchards for 99 cents a pound. (And with their 10% student discount, it’s really 89 cents a pound. What a deal!)
• The Hungarian Pastry shop sells hot cider. I’m from Farm Country, Connecticut, so I’ve tried a lot of cider – you can trust me when I say Hungarian’s is the best.
• There’s more cider than just hot cider, though: 1020 has hard cider on tap right now. Next weekend, try a glass of cider instead of your usual beer!
• Spend an hour on Low Steps, while the weather is still remotely bearable. Pretend you’re at the top of a mountain instead of shivering on stone stairs.
• Spruce up your room with some pumpkins and gourds. You can get these at the farmers’ market or Garden of Eden, or at Fairway Market if you’re willing to make the trek north. Fairway offers gourds with faces (some friendly, some creepy) painted on, if that’s something you’re into.
• If there isn’t room for pumpkins in your dorm, walk by the garden between 118th Street and 119th Street on Amsterdam. Look for Halloween friends.
• Organize an “Over the Garden Wall” viewing party in your dorm. Make hot buttered rum (or potatoes and molasses) and trick all your friends into thinking you’re classy.
• Go to a park (Riverside Park, Morningside Park, Central Park – you have so many options!) and look for leaves changing color. If you see any particularly picturesque trees, send photos to Bwog’s Instagram.

Spoopy via Betsy Ladyzhets