Merrymead Farms in Lansdale, PA, is such a lovely place to spend an early fall morning. We make it an annual outing with our friends-with-kids and there is genuinely enough going on that kids from two to thirty-two (or more) find something fun to do. This year, we spent most of our time slinging apples at an empty claw-footed bathtub in a field; if you land an apple in the tub, you win a free huge pumpkin. Twenty bucks’ worth of tickets later, we did not win, but we sure had fun. We helped all the little kids pick out right-sized “ironside” pumpkins (the tiny, hard ones) for pumpkin bowling (see below), plus our own big pumpkin for Halloween. Merrymead’s pumpkins are excellent, ours easily lasted a full month on the stoop before carving.
Open to visitors all year-long, Merrymead Farm is family owned, working dairy farm that features a farm market where you can pick up their excellent milk products (processed and packaged on-site) and baked goods, and of course, seasonal favorites: homemade ice cream in the summer, pumpkins and cider in the fall, and Christmas trees and greens.
Our day wouldn’t be complete without styrofoam cups of apple cider and fresh, hot cider donuts. Then we were off to a cook-out and pumpkin bowling at our friends’ house.
Pumpkin Bowling: A How-to Guide
What You Need
- 1 pack of the cheapest toilet paper you can find (at least 8 rolls)
- Kid-friendly markers
- Small pumpkins, fit for tiny hands
- An equal number of kids and pumpkins
- A knife or small saw (for grown-up use only)
- A grassy hill
- Adult supervision
What to Do
Open the toilet paper and set the kids to decorating each roll with the markers–we drew faces on ours. This will keep them quiet and out-of-the-way while an adult cuts the stems off the pumpkins, making them as close to round as possible. [You may see this activity with holes drilled into the pumpkins for fingers. Let me tell you: It is not worth your time. Leave ’em whole.]
Stack the toilet paper rolls at the bottom of your grassy knoll, line up the kids at the top and roll in order from youngest to oldest. Reset and repeat.
2222 S. Valley Forge Road | Lansdale, PA 19446 | 610-584-4410
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