Autumn Harvest | Stroller in the City

We’re getting ahead a bit with some fall family-friendly activities with the close of the summer season.

With the fall comes Halloween. Followed by the build up to the holidays, and weeks if not months of annual traditions and special events. Apple and pumpkin picking have become a family favorite! A few years ago, Siella had been begging to go for weeks and finally, we managed to squeeze a trip in. It was a few hours drive out to the country. The weather felt more like summer than fall. But even though it was super late in the season for apples, we managed to have a fun day spent at Longmeadow Farm.

We stumbled upon Longmeadow Farm two years ago, on a trip home from Kalahari Resorts. Jason was headed out of town that week, so I started to Google apple picking while driving. Coincidentally, Longmeadow was the next exit. The quaint farm is no frills without large indoor markets, apple cider or donuts (well, no donuts is a bummer). But the acres and variety of apples and pumpkins easily make up for it. And even as late as it was in October, we still filled a bin to the rim with apples of all types. Although, I do not recommend waiting until late fall to head out to pick pumpkins are see an autumn harvest festival. The earlier, the better!

Ryder has become quite the picker, always managing to score apples high up in the trees!

Siella made sure to taste test each variety before putting them in the basket. What’s your favorite type of apple? There are so many to choose from- a champagne apple, one that is golden delicious, granny smith, pink lady and the list goes on and on!

Picking Pumpkins

We normally pick apples and pumpkins on separate weekends, but no time for that this year. That was fine, because there were tons of pumpkins, and lots of gourds too. Gemma was obsessed with the gourds! So much so that we ended up with more gourds than apples this time around!

Gemma found the smallest gourd and added it to her collection.

Look at how many pumpkins we picked!
Our trip wouldn’t have been complete without a little run through the corn maze, and our obligatory photo in front of the barn!

I’m so happy to check off this fall family activity off our list! I was afraid we were going to miss apples and pumpkins for the first time since having kids. Now we just need to find the time to carve all these pumpkins before tomorrow. In the meantime, I am planning on surprising the kids with a homemade apple pie when they get home from school today! I just need to take a deep breath and enjoy all of our Halloween festivities, because after that, it’s onto holiday prep gear!

With all this warm weather, the leaves have yet to change color in NYC, but I guess I can still say it- Happy Autumn!

*This post was originally published October 30th, 2017*

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