Fall on the Farm

One of the things I look forward to the most in the fall is visiting the pumpkin patch. 

When I was a kid, we used to go to this pumpkin patch that had the coolest hay maze. The hay bales were stacked up to form a labyrinth, then the top was covered with a heavy tarp that made the maze completely dark inside. There were little windows cut into the hay bales here and there to yield just enough light so that you wouldn't run face-first into a wall of scratchy hay (though that also happened sometimes). My friends and I would hide in the darkest corners of the maze then jump out and scare unsuspecting people as they felt their way through. The younger kids were especially fun to scare.

Can you tell I was a trouble-maker?

Along with a hay maze, a good pumpkin patch has to have a hay ride out to the pumpkin field, hot apple cider, caramel apples, and farm animals. Corn mazes are optional.

Surprisingly, I had to search around for a farm here that met all my requirements! I stopped in at one farm to inquire about their fall activities, and the woman there excitedly highlighted their corn maze and the hay ride out to feed the cows (while downplaying the fact that they didn't even have a pumpkin patch). Pfsh! As if!

But then I found the perfect place in Loveland, OH - only an hour away! When the drive looks like this, I don't mind being in the car.

We finally arrived, and Blooms and Berries Farm had it all:

Mud!

Isn't it so quaint?

Pumpkins!

Flowers! So many flowers!

Gourds! Gourds! Gourds!

These are called Apple Gourds. Don't they look like giant apples?

A hay maze! (Though decidedly less cool than the one I grew up with). This one's built for sissies.

Baby farm animals! Awwwww!

(All kinds of farm animals....)

We picked out a few decorative gourds for our porch, a couple blue pumpkins called Jarrahdales (I hear they make great pies!), and one of the good old-fashioned jack-o-lantern variety for carving.

There was one thing this pumpkin patch had that was better than the one I knew as a child. And that was the Bucking Cow Train. Only a video can do it justice:

We left the farm happy, with 5 pumpkins and a caramel apple.

Still geekin' out in my glasses.

If you haven't done so already, make a date to head out to the pumpkin patch! It's an autumn must.