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What we did (downtown) this weekend: North Run Farm
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Note: Please forgive me for my extreme lack of posting this past month. A freelance project and a family vacation have taken me away from this blog for a while but I hope to be back with more regular posting soon! Several new downtown stories are in the works.
Technically, we did this a few weeks ago so a more apt title would be, "What we did in Stevenson two or three weeks ago" but tis the season for pumpkin patches, so I thought I'd go ahead and share our experience.
My friend Kate has been searching tirelessly for fun fall activities to do with her two-year-old son and his gaggle of toddler friends and spent some time researching farms where we could all spend our increasingly chilly Saturday mornings. After some research on the Web, we came up with North Run Farm in Stevenson, MD, about 20 minutes outside of Baltimore City.
Last year we checked out Weber's Farm, which is very near to Baltimore City, and were slightly disappointed that you couldn't pick your own pumpkin from a pumpkin patch (though they had a lovely selection in their outdoor market, which was more than adequate for our then one-year-olds). We also plan to try Clark's Elioak Farm at some point this season.
In any case, North Run Farm did not disappoint, with lots of toddler-appropriate activities, including corn-filled sandboxes, a mini hay maze (there is a bigger hay maze for older children and adults for an additional fee), tepee, farm animals, hay ride, pumpkin patch, and more.
Our kids were first drawn in by the corn sandboxes and the mini hay maze, complete with tunnels.
Next we went to see the animals. They had sheep, pigs, chickens, and cows. The cows were the most photogenic and--like the sheep--had babies.
Finally, we went on the hay ride and walked back through the pumpkin patch. No worries, the truck is not actually moving in this picture!
You had the option of picking your own pumpkin or purchasing one in the market on your way out. The pumpkins in the patch were a bit smaller and fewer and farther between than the bounty available in the store; however, since we were there in late September, everybody in our group decided to hold out till closer to Halloween. There were also--as to be expected--bumble bees attracted to the flowers in the pumpkin patch, and the allergic among us didn't bring his epi pen. Next time we'll know.
All in all, I would heartily recommend North Run Farm. While Weber's was plenty for one-year-olds, North Run definitely held the rapt attention of our two-year-olds. However, we hear that Clark's Elioak Farm has an actual petting zoo (at Weber's and North Run the animals are penned, so you can look but not touch), so we're looking forward to trying that next.
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