We arrived early and milled around the farm stand. A few peaches and summer vegetables remained, but the main draw was apples and pumpkins. The children were all buzzing around trying to find the biggest pumpkin in the area.
Once, our group all arrived, we loaded onto the hay wagons. We had a great turn out for the tour. The flatbed 'wagon' was full and the ride began. We learned about the farm and found out that over 2 million strawberries are planted each year. The children were amazed.
We saw the irrigation pond and the bee hives. Our guide discussed the importance of both these.
We made our way to a pasture that had a few cows and two donkeys. The animals knew they would be fed and eagerly came up to the wagon. Everyone had a great time feeding them. Of course, the cow I fed didn't know it was to eat from the palm of my hand and kept running its tongue on the back of my out stretched hand. Needless to say, I had a very slobbery hand.
We got to see a baby calf and watch it suck from a bottle. Then we cheered on two mothers as they tried to catch a piglet in another pen. That turned out to be much harder than it looked. Finally, one was caught and the kids all got to pet it.
There was a nice playground area set up for the children. Tire swings, petting pens for goats, roping area, and room to run. What fun they had!
Our host presented a small lesson on how pumpkins grow and then the children were allowed to enter the pumpkin patch and pick out a small pumpkin to take home. Of course, finding the 'right' pumpkin takes time!
After our stop at the playground and pumpkin patch, we loaded the wagon and headed back to the shed. It was time to enter the corn maze.
The children loved it. They ran here and there trying to find all the colors for their fingers. It is absolutely amazing how much fun they have running through corn!
Once everyone found all the colors, they were hot and ready for ice cream. We had a lovely time and can't wait to go back.
