It’s almost here — our 3rd annual Harvest Fair and Pumpkin Patch. The weather forecast is for Sunny and 68 degrees in Watsonville, so we’ll hold them to that! This event is open to everybody so tell your friends to come out too. Entrance fee is $10/adult, $5/child, 3 and under free. All proceeds go to Linscott Charter School in Watsonville. In return, dozens of Linscott staff, parents, and students volunteer their time to make the event a success.
Most activities will be ongoing throughout the day—you can show up anytime and pick pumpkins, visit the apple tasting table, take a hay ride, and so on. But we do have certain things happening at specific times, so here’s the schedule:
10:00 The fun begins!
10:00 – 12:30 Bluegrass Music with the Microtonic Harmonics
10:00 – 2:00 Demonstration Bee Hive with Keith Kimes of Kimes Apiary
11:00 – 12:00 Cooking Demonstration with Joni Sare: Relaxed Kale Salad (Raw)
1:00 – 3:30 Solo vocals and guitar music by Brett Fowler
2:00 – 3:00 Cooking Demonstration with Joni Sare: Squash Cassoulet (Cooked)
4:00 Time to clean up and get ready for Sunday’s Farmers’ Market!
10:00 – 4:00 Ongoing Activities
· Tractor-pulled hayrides around the farm – Farmer Steve will take you on a fun and educational tour up and down the hills around the fields and past the apple orchard and blueberry patch, with nice views of the slough and the mountains. Rides start about 10 minutes after the previous ride gets back.
· Petting zoo– these adorable “borrowed” animals should satisfy the basic need children have to find animals on a farm. (Thanks to Dawn Brookman of Special Memories for the animal loan!) Open all day, unless the Animals Are Resting Sign is up (please allow them to have these small breaks throughout the day.)
· Pony and Horse rides– We will have 2 horses to give rides to the larger children and Dawn Brookman’s little pony Oreo for the small children.
· Face Painting– kids can have their faces painted by one of our 3 face painters
· 3-legged races– prepare to race across the farm field for prizes. We’ll try to run races every hour on the hour at 11:00, 12:00, 1:00, 2:00, and 3:00.
· Farm Arts and Crafts– kids can make corn husk dolls, paint faces on eggshells and take them home to grow green “hair,” create works of art with beans and glue, sculpt with natural clay dug from the soil 2 feet below them, make apple prints, stuff scarecrows, and make paper bees.
· Pumpkin Patch–gourds and pumpkins from High Ground and Mariquita Farm will be waiting out in the pumpkin patch for your fall holiday needs.
· Strawberry Picking– We will open what’s left of our strawberry patch for picking. Since the plants aren’t producing much fruit right now, we’ll limit the u-pick to one basket each.
· Apple Tasting– We’ll have about 10 different varieties of specialty and heirloom apples from our orchards at the Redman House, here at our home property, and from the orchard of our friend Freddy Menge. Try some unique apples that you may never have seen before.
· Mini-Farmers Market– High Ground Organics vegetables and fruits for sale
· Raffle– Linscott volunteers will be selling raffle tickets for the Drive for Schools raffle, which cost $5 each. There are over 100 prizes, with the grand prize being a new Toyota Prius, Subaru Outback, or $25,000 cash. 100% of the raffle money goes to Linscott Charter School.
· Harvest Festival Food: This isn’t your average fair food. We’ll have all natural hot dogs, which you can top with Chef Andrew Cohen’s shaved pickled onions (or some organic ketchup and mustard for the less adventurous). Plus, Andrew has planned some gourmet harvest dishes from High Ground produce to go with your hot dogs or to stand alone as a vegetarian lunch. The menu includes potato salad with fennel and onions, cabbage salad with a Japanese style vinaigrette, carrot salad with apples, and marinated veggie kabobs on the grill with a lemon yogurt dipping sauce. All food is available for purchase. For dessert or snacks, don’t miss the chocolate dipped strawberries. Wash it all down with fresh strawberry lemonade.
We are located at 521 Harkins Slough Road in Watsonville. Find directions and more information here. We can’t wait to see you!
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