Sunflower Picking at Anderson Farms

Summer break came to an end for us a few weeks back, and the season itself definitely feels like it's coming to an end for another year. The day time temperatures are still pretty hot here in Colorado but evenings and early mornings are nice and cool and our backyard is suddenly covered in golden leaves. Fall is on its way! 

While I'm super excited that my favorite season will be here soon, there are a few last minute Summer activities that I've been wanting to squeeze in. One of these was visiting a farm to pick sunflowers and we did this last Thursday at Anderson Farms in nearby Erie. 

Like Summer break, the sunflower picking season at Anderson Farms has now come to an end, but I still wanted to share my pics from our outing - you know, as inspiration for next year, not at all because I'm behind with posting! 

Visiting Boulder's Iris Farm

The first official week of Summer Break and we had our first official outing of the season - and our first time out exploring in god only knows how long!

Now that the weather has warmed up, things are looking very much like Spring (or Summer) here in the Boulder Valley. Trees that were bare just a month ago are green, lawns and grass areas are lush, and every second garden in our neighborhood is filled with colorful flowers. The two most common flowers here seem to be irises in a range of colors, and vivid orange poppies. And when I say these flowers are common, I mean they are everywhere.

I've never lived in a place where everyone seems to plant the same flowers in their garden so it got me wondering about just why these two flowers are everywhere. Sure, they're pretty, but there are lots of other pretty flowers out there too. They obviously grow well here, but that still wasn't really the answer I was looking for. After digging a little deeper I learned about Boulder's history with irises and a small flower farm right in the city.

Long's Gardens is a small flower farm located on Broadway in a neighborhood full of houses, recreation centers and parks. Not really where you'd expect to find a farm, but it has been there ever since 1905. For much of that time Long's Gardens has been growing a variety of irises, providing beautiful blooming plants to the Boulder Valley.

Long's Gardens is a private property, but they open their farm up to the public during the flowering season, from April to June. Most years, they offer "u-dig" sales during this time, with customers able to choose their own iris plants from the field, dig them up to purchase, and grow them at home. Kind of like the flower equivalent of apple picking! This year, due to COVID, Long's Gardens is not offering their "u-dig" or direct sales from their office. Their iris fields are still open to the public for viewing only, and that's what we did yesterday.

Fall Fun at Anderson Farms

It's finally Fall!

Well, it has been for a few weeks now, but it's finally starting to feel like Fall. The leaves are changing color, the nights are getting cooler, and there are pumpkins and Halloween decorations everywhere. 

To celebrate the coming of my favorite Season we headed to Anderson Farms in nearby Erie for a Fall Festival with Kim's work recently. It was such a fun event and a super fun place to celebrate the season.

Visiting a pumpkin patch is always one of my favorite Fall activities and just like everything with our move, a new pumpkin patch was on my "must find" list! Anderson Farms perfectly fit the bill checking off all my pumpkin patch favorites, plus more! Tractor rides, pumpkin picking, a corn maze, cheesy photo opportunities, a petting zoo, fun rides and amusements... it's all there.

Hoes Down Harvest Festival 2017

Back at the start of October we attended one of my favorite annual festivals: the Hoes Down Harvest Festival at Full Belly Farm. This was our fourth time going to the Hoes Down and the event's 30th anniversary so it was a pretty big celebration.

As usual, we camped out in the car camping section, so upon arrival we set up our tent, grabbed a few snacks and then made our way towards all the farm fun.

Our first stop was at a big chicken coop filled with chickens that were not quite full grown but not longer baby chicks. The girls thought they were so cute (if smelly!) and spent quite some time talking to their new feathery friends.

Pumpkin Patch 2017

Yesterday we spent the day getting into the Fall and Halloween spirit with a visit to a pumpkin patch. Like a few years ago, we visited McClelland's Dairy near Petaluma just an hour north of San Francisco. We picked pumpkins and gourds to decorate at home, met farm animals, went on a tractor ride, shot mini pumpkins out of a cannon, played on bounce houses, walked through a haunted house and buried each other in the corn pit.

Here's a look at our fun day on the farm...

Hoes Down Harvest Festival 2016

Last weekend we left the city and headed to Fully Belly Farm in Yolo County for the annual Hoes Down Harvest Festival. This was our third time attending the festival and it was just as much fun as it was in previous years. Even better - it wasn't scorching hot like it has been in the past! And it wasn't stormy overnight like last year, so camping out was a little more comfortable. 

Hoes Down Harvest Festival 2015

A few weekends back we attended the annual Hoes Down Harvest Festival at Fully Belly Farm in Yolo County. We all had such a great time and I have so many photos I've been wanting to share but I've been a little caught up lately in prep work for Lola's upcoming 5th birthday party, and once again I've found myself falling behind.

So, it's time to catch up with some fun on the farm photos...

This year we attended the Hoes Down with some good friends who have daughters the same age as Ava and Lola. The kids loved having friends with them, especially when it came to camping in the evening. We managed to coordinate arriving at the same time and set up our tents right next to each other. The girls loved being neighbors! Like last year, we went for the car camping option and set up our tent next to our car. Unlike last year, this time around we had a new tent and we actually all fit inside it without feeling like sardines. What a difference it made! Five people crammed into a three person tent is no joke. Our new tent felt like a mansion in comparison!

Capay Valley Open Farm Day

Last weekend we attended the Hoes Down Harvest Festival at Fully Belly Farm. The main festival took place on the Saturday and we camped out over night. On the Sunday there were a host of workshops available as part of the festival however we decided not to take part in any this year (the Kid's Day Camp is on our list for next year though).

Instead we decided to visit a few other farms in the area as part of the Capay Valley Open Farm Day.

So after breakfast we packed up our tent and hit the road. The day was hot and we were all pretty tired from the festival on Saturday so a quiet day visiting just a few farms was in order.

Hoes Down Harvest Festival

Last weekend we headed to the countryside and attended the Hoes Down Harvest Festival at Full Belly Farm in Yolo Country.

Ava and Lola were so excited about going to the festival. They couldn't wait for all of the hands on farm fun and crafts but the biggest draw card for them was the fact that we'd be camping out overnight. This was the first time that we went camping as a family and the big girls were so excited about it. Ava has been asking to go camping for years so it was about time we finally got around to it!