Fall is by far my favorite season. I don’t like pumpkin spice flavored anything, but the coolness in the air on a sunny day, the array of colors in the trees and the anticipation of the upcoming holidays are enough for me to rank autumn No. 1. The problem with fall is that here in Ohio, it so often comes and goes before you even realize it’s October.
The weather doesn’t fit the calendar dates of fall. It’s still blazing hot when fall technically arrives, and it feels like winter long before fall is actually over. You finally get back into the swing of school and then snowman decorations rule the stores. But before you go hunting down the perfect Christmas tree, set your sights on something orange and round before fall comes to an early close yet again.
Lots of fall fun is still going on at Young’s Jersey Dairy in Yellow Springs. My husband and I love taking the kids to Young’s Dairy. There is so much for little ones and big ones to do from animals to pet, a giant slide to ride, golf balls to putt, and of course ice cream to eat. In the fall, Young’s has a corn maze, haunted wagon rides, and my family’s favorite, pick your own pumpkins.
The pumpkin patch at Young’s is open through Oct. 29 every day from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. We picked a sunny but chilly day to see which two pumpkins our daughters deemed worthy to bring home. Our son was just along for the ride since we can’t carry three pumpkins and a 1-year-old.
After buying a ticket for each pumpkin we planned to pick, we waited in line for a wagon ride out to the field. Riding the wagon is half the fun of the whole experience for my kids. You get dropped off right among the pumpkins and picked up too. And they have small wagons you can pull around the field, so don’t worry about hefting those pumpkins back. Go ahead and pick the biggest ones!
I don’t know anything about what it takes to grow pumpkins, but the people at Young’s sure do because the pumpkins are beautiful. So many of them were so big and perfectly round. Lots of them have twisted stems that’ll look great on the front porch, and several were still connected to the vine. Whether you like yours tall, short, round or skinny, all the pumpkins at Young’s will make stunning jack-o-lanterns.
Of course, my daughters wanted the first ones they saw, but we encouraged them to keep looking. They loved pulling the empty wagon around the vines and showing us different ones they liked. Eventually my 4-year-old picked a huge one and needed some help loading it in the wagon. My 2-year-old settled on a slightly smaller one. I don’t know what it was about those specific ones they liked so much but they are awfully proud of them. Now they’re sitting on the porch just waiting to be carved. More fall fun!
As you can see from the pictures, plenty pumpkins are still waiting. Make a day of pumpkin picking and fall fun at Young’s Dairy. It has become a tradition in our family, and it’s so fun to look back at the pictures over the years and see how our family has grown. I hope the kids will still enjoy it as teenagers, and maybe even bring their own kids someday.
Visit https://youngsdairy.com/ for more information.
