'SNL's Funny Apple Picking Spoof Spotlights 'Chickham's Farm'

NORTH FORK, NY — A favorite fall pastime got a nod on "Saturday Night Live" recently, as SNL's "Apple Picking Ad" spoofed the activity popular both on the North Fork and in upstate New York.

SNL's Aidy Bryant and Kate McKinnon, playing unmarried sisters who own the farm, said fall is apple picking season, time to visit "Chickham's Apple Farm" for pick-your-own fall fun.

On the North Fork, residents got a chuckle; the name seemed to be a spoof on the name of the popular Wickham's Fruit Farm. A bastion of the North Fork for 11 generations, the Wickham family's ownership of the land and historic, beloved bicentennial farm stretches back to the 1600s — and for generations, thousands of families have headed to the farm for the joy of apple picking and fall fun.

SNL poked fun at the apple-picking ritual.

"Why pick apples?" Bryant and McKinnon, playing the homespun sisters, one with a long braid, asked. "Just ask any of our satisfied customers."

"I never picked apples before but now, I have. I had fun — I think," one said.

"It was cute. Far, but cute. A lot of bees," said another.

The sisters said customers could select from a variety of apples: "Huge/soft, tiny/hard, green, orange. And apple."

They joked about the apples on the ground that "get the deers drunk". Woody Harrelson appears as "Farmhand Hank" who riffs about a hilarious fictional petting zoo.

The skit then advises customers to take home some goodies.

"Be sure to take home some of our penis gourds. They came out more penis than yesterday," they said.

Jonathan Wickham, who owns Wickham's Fruit Farm, found the spoof hilarious. “That sketch was so funny that the actors could barely keep it together. Do we actually have a lady working here with a 5-foot long braided pony tail? Do we actually have penis-shaped gourds? There’s one way to find out. Come out and see us in person. We’ve got off highway parking, wagon rides on Saturdays, and free autographs," he said.

Wickham's Fruit Farm is located at 28700 Main Road in Cutchogue. For information on the farm, click here or go to the Wickham's Fruit Farm Facebook page.

For Patch's 2019 Long Island Apple-Picking Guide, click here.