After welcoming the day at Kiltepan Viewpoint, we made that short drive to do some damage, I meant, orange-picking. Since I can remember, “Sagada Oranges” have become something like an institution in our region, kinda like how you’d identify other produce as “Baguio beans” and “Baguio strawberries” which, IF I MAY, I have a couple of things to say about. First: beans and most other highland vegetables are NOT from Baguio, you guys. Neither are strawberries.
They are from Benguet (with strawberries coming from La Trinidad) and are only transported to Baguio to be sold.
I love Baguio City because it was where I studied, it’s where I work, and where I spend most hours of the day, but time for a reality check. Fact is: Baguio City would starve without its neighboring towns.
But I digress, and I apologize for that mini-rant right there. *makes peace sign*
Orange County This Side of the North
Sagada is famous for its oranges, and these oranges are equally famous for being quite pricey, which is one reason why many of us rarely buy it. But if there is one opportunity to get Sagada oranges for a more reasonable price – not necessarily cheap, but still, it’s tolerable – it would be to go directly to the source.
There are dozens of orange orchards dotting the town of Sagada and its immediate outskirts, and some of them open their doors to tourists for that orange-picking experience. That is, they pay an entrance fee, and you will be handed pruners or a pair of shears/scissors for harvesting oranges, a bag or two to place your pickings in, and you’re good to go.
Entrance fee is Php50.00 per person, and that gives you 30 minutes to go around the orchard and pick oranges to your hearts’ content. Of course, only as much as you plan to buy, because you will be paying for the oranges on your bags on your way out.
But the real attraction of this experience is that you can eat as much oranges as you want while picking them.
So that’s 30 minutes of you gorging on oranges. In fact, I know some people who paid the entrance fee, went into the orchard, picked and ate, then came back out with an empty bag, ergo not really buying anything to bring home, but just ate oranges, haha!
The Rock Inn & Cafe Orange Farm
Probably one of the more accessible orchards, the Rock Inn & Cafe Orange Farm is a full-operation inn, cafe, and orange farm all rolled into one. From what I see, it’s more than you average small-town inn or B&B, because it also hosts several official, larger functions such as trainings and seminars.
But we didn’t really go around the area, or even check out the Cafe, because we were bent on getting to the orange-picking part immediately.
The orchard opens at 7AM, and we got there before they opened their orchard gates. But you can see there were already a lot of people ahead of us.
Not to worry, though, there are a lot of orange trees to go around.
Oranges, Here We Come!
This is my first time in an orange orchard, much less to pick one. The ground was kinda wet and muddy from the rain the day and night before, so it was a bit slippery going up and around, but that was part of the thrill, methinks.
You will be accompanied by some of their staff to serve as guides, but you’ll be the one to do the picking. Unless, of course, you ask for help.
You see, some of us are vertically challenged, and don’t have a long reach, and some of the sweeter, riper oranges are too high up.
But if you are up for some climbing (you know me so well), then you can try, too. I won’t say it was 100% successful on all my attempts but it was fun nonetheless.
To Eat Or Not To Eat?
When you’re in the moment, it is difficult to decide whether you should eat what you picked or drop it into your basket/bag. Because you only have 30 minutes, and they fly by soooo fast.
So you gotta put ’em skillz at work. Pick, peel, eat. Rinse and repeat.
In the end, what some of us did was to ask for the assistance of the guides, so they pick the oranges for us as we, well, ate.
According to one of the guides, the most they’ve heard of that a person ate while picking was 17. That’s at least one orange in 2 minutes.
Mad skillz. Mad, mad, mad.
(Or maybe just plain hungry?)
I’d have to say this place is a bit of a tourist trap. 🙂 I made grand plans to buy only at least around 1 kilo, but then ended up with a bag that is considerably more than 1 kilogram of oranges.
I blame it on the fun of pruning those fruits off the trees. It can get addicting and, the next thing you know, you have a bag full of them.
When you step out, they will weigh your harvest and that’s what you’ll pay. When we went there, a kilo was Php80.00, which was much cheaper than the normal going rate in Baguio, which is anywhere from Php100 to Php200, depending on the “quality”.
But really, what quality could be better than “fresh oranges just picked off the tree”, eh?
If you are looking for something different to do when you’re in Sagada, one that won’t require you to do some hiking or trekking, for instance, I suggest you do this one. It’s actually relaxing, because you’d think of nothing else but oranges when you’re there.
Relaxing and, if I may add, filling.
Orange season is usually at the end of the year, November and December are when they are in season.
Try it. It doesn’t even take an hour. 30 minutes, tops, and it’s done.
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