Hay may be for horses, but hayrides, apple orchards, and picking grapes are for those of us who love to sneak into a cozy sweater, jeans, and duck boots and make the most of the fall season. Check around to see which nearby farms offer hayrides. Others let you walk through their orchards, picking fruit and vegetables. And if you’re up at a local winery you might be able to pick grapes too. Some have it all! Farms are not only food suppliers but can also be a primary source of entertainment for those of us who are searching for an ideal autumn day. Now, what should you bring for these fall-time festivities?
Support your local farms! They do an extraordinary job year-round and now you have a chance to relay to those farmers how great your recipes have been this season. “That fresh sweet corn this summer I froze and turned into scalloped corn this fall? Couldn’t have been better.” The kids are going to love the hayride too. Learning about a
farm is a perfect teaching moment for people no matter what their age. It’s great to give kids a first-hand look at the process and to remind them that the refrigerator is not a magical portal. A good old-fashioned hayride is an educational experience that’s oftentimes just as fun as it is refreshing.
Here’s what to bring:
Rather than staying at home without a worry in the world, you decided to go to a creepy cornfield where a bunch of zombie actors (“is that Fred from the PTA?”) are threatening to eat your arm. While at times it won’t feel much different than the worst parts of motherhood, for whatever reason you’re subjecting yourself to a few weeks of nightmares. Awesome.
What to bring:
Apple orchard excursions are the best. After a humid and hot summer we always look forward to the relaxing chill of fall, but an underrated experience is going to an apple orchard. Some years we forget to go and it’s like we go into winter without checking all the fall boxes. Well, no excuses this time around.
What to bring:
Perhaps the grapes are harvested for wine or they’re a part of a pick-your-own farm. Whatever it may be, you’ll want to bring the same items you’d bring to the apple orchard. Since you’re in a bit of wine country you’re likely to be in cider country too, so bring along a growler.
Happy fall