I look up, straight up to see the blue sky, and try to get my bearings. I turn a corner, and catch a glimpse of my 5 year old niece slipping around the corner. I quicken my pace to catch her, but when I get there, she’s gone. “Mom?!” I hear my son call out. “I found it! Come over here!” Come over where? I think I’m lost in the corn maze.
It’s a warm sunny September day, and the “city cousins” have joined the “country cousins” for an afternoon at Fruition Berry Farm before they head back to Toronto. The farm is a favourite place of ours to visit in the early summer, where we can fill our baskets (and bellies!) with juicy, ripe strawberries. But come sweater weather, the farm’s pumpkin patch is ripe for picking, the corn maze is cut and the apples are about to be pressed!
Located just north of Kingston, Fruition Berry Farm has been owned and operated by the Paul family since 2003. The main draw to the farm is “pick your own” strawberries & raspberries, with blueberries recently planted (ready for picking in 2019!) Come September, the farm re-opens to the public (and school groups!) for pick your own pumpkins, wagon rides and a meander through the corn maze.
Every year the corn maze; designed by a former employee; has a theme and challenges throughout. Last year, much to the delight of my sons and nephew, it was lego. There were stations scattered throughout the maze, we were given a clue sheet, and the goal to find all stations, and then find our way out of the maze, where he could hitch a wagon ride back to our car. This year’s theme is Space. Wonder what challenges they have in store for us?
New to the festivities this year, on November 1, Fruition Berry Farm will host its first Pumpkin Smash. Which is exactly what it sounds like. Farmer Christine explains “Our customers are always complaining that the city won’t pick up their pumpkins in one shot in the green bin because they are too heavy. They often ask us if we have an after Halloween pick up service. (we don’t) So, we thought this would be a fun way for people to dispose of their Halloween jack-o-lanterns and we get the benefit of all the extra compost for our soil!”
Speaking of jack-o-lanterns, after we have found our way out the maze, we head over to the pumpkin patch, where the kids try to find the biggest pumpkin they can roll, already planning what creepy faces they can cut out of them. Which then turns the conversation to candy and costumes. Which reminds me that unless I want to be making costumes on the 30th (which happens every year), I should probably get moving….this year I have an Orc and a Werewolf on my hands. In the meantime though, I will put on my boots, grab a warm sweater and head over to Fruition Berry Farm and get lost in the corn.
