By Nicholas Persad
The apples have been harvested and are waiting to be turned into cider. The pumpkins have been carved into scary faces and are waiting to be put on doorsteps and window panes. The beauty and vibrancy of the fall foliage complements it all. It’s Fall. The time of year when the air begins to get a little crispier than it was during the summer months, and the warm, furry quilts that were stored deep in the cupboard from last year are pulled out and placed by the bedside.
The arrival of Fall also brings with it a vast amount of family activities that have come to characterize this time of year. Two that are extremely prominent and very appealing for the younger generation are pumpkin and apple picking.
Applejacks Orchard, which is located at 751 Brand Hollow Rd, Peru, NY unlike other orchards in the Plattsburgh area offers the public the opportunity to pick as many apples as they want and at their own pace. It is open from the third week in August until the week before Halloween. The orchard is also home to a petting zoo and a hay maze for younger children.
“We have a bee hive as well as all kinds of goodies. We also have something we call ‘Goat Mountain’ where the kids can go and pet goats,” said Jessica Mckee, the staff member in charge of the school tours at Applejacks. Apple picking is not a onetime thing but has become a tradition with many families. “Absolutely, it’s definitely a family tradition. We see a lot of the same families year after year,” said Mckee.
Pumpkin picking has become as much of a tradition as apple picking especially during the month of October as pumpkins are synonymous with Halloween.
“You get to ride on a tractor and see the apple field, the pumpkin field, the blueberry field and the eggplant field,” said Rory Wallace, a PSU student who went picking at Rulf’s Orchard. “Then we went into the pumpkin field to pick some pumpkins. It was quite fun especially because it’s around Halloween.” The overall cost of this excursion is $6. Rulf’s Orchard is located at 531 Bear Swamp Rd, Peru, NY.
Another activity that is enjoyable during this time of the year and allows you to be outdoors regardless of the unpredictable weather is the Vermont Corn Maze. This family-friendly outing can be taken anytime between August and October 18. The Corn Maze can be found at 1404 Wheelock Road, Danville, VT. The name is actually a little play on words.
“The corn field is turned into a maze,” said Dayna Boudreau, owner of the Vermont Corn Maze. “We spend January through May just to design the maze, then in June we transfer the design to the field. In July we make all the pathways and then in August we are open to the public,” she said.
Boudreau added that the maze sees most of its patrons during the fall foliage and that most people spend at least two hours trying to solve the puzzle. According the website www.vermontcornmaze.com 90 percent of teenagers do not complete the maze. The maze ends October 18 because the owners cut the corn while it is still good enough to feed the cows.
As the leaves change color and drop from the dying trees and the likelihood of snowfall becomes more imminent by the passing of each day the activities that are available to North Country residents decrease. These family traditions only come around for a small time period during the year but have become a symbol of Fall.
Here is where you can find more info about
Vermont Corn Maze
Here is where you can find more info about
Here is where you can find more info about
No comments:
Post a Comment