Be it apple orchard or pumpkin patch, head to the countryside for family fun
BY DIANE GILES
dgiles@kenoshanews.com
Posted: Sept.18, 2007
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KENOSHA NEWS PHOTO
BY SEAN KRAJACIC
Kevin Doherty, 12, of Mundelein, Ill., carries a bag of just-picked apples at Apple Holler.
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Mother Nature’s changing her palette, and the landscape is swapping out colors more appropriate to a cold snap. There’s something about those colors — red, gold and orange — that sums up autumn perfectly.
The last of the warm days are perfect for roaming apple orchards and planing visits to pumpkin farms. These are the kind of family activities that memories are made of.
Our area is fortunate to have a good deal of places to pick up apples and pumpkins. Some are more of a drive to get to, but hey, that’s half the fun, crunching and munching apples all the way home!
A lot of what you’ll find offered out in apple-land is dependent on the week you venture forth.
Pat Lang, owner of the Silver Creek Orchard in Salem, said the Courtland and Connie Crisp apples are in their prime. “But the harder, crisper apples won’t be ready for picking until the end of September,” Lang said.
Hafs Road Orchard, near Genoa City, in its 25th year, specializes in Honeycrisp apples.
There’s very few enterprises left where you can pick your own apples, but there are two in our area: Oriole Springs Orchard in Twin Lakes and Apple Holler in Sturtevant.
Apple picking is a family tradition for many people, including Cindy Kreppein of Gurnee, Ill., who had her three daughters and a family friend in tow. The group pulled a wagon heavy with apples in the grove.
The Kreppeins’ favorite apple? “Galas for eating,” Cindy Kreppein said. “And for cooking, we defer to their (Apple Holler’s) list for whatever they're picking.”
The family has made applesauce, doughnuts, apple crisp — and, of course, apple pie.
“We tried caramel apples, but not very successfully. The caramel falls off the apple, I don't know why,” Cindy Kreppein said.
Good thing Apple Holler, like nearly all the apple and pumpkin farms, has ready-made caramel apples on hand for purchase for hungry pickers.
For the Fogels — Louis and Tamar and their, kids Alex and Jonah — of Chicago, the Sturtevant orchard was the halfway point for meeting Tamar’s parents, Yehuda and Sari Karsh of Milwaukee.
“This might become a tradition for us,” Louis said, hoisting one of the boys on his shoulder to pick the perfect apple.
For other families, it’s a matter of going where the apples are. It was a 45-minute drive for Kelly McNama, one of three moms herding 12 kids from five different families.
“They used to have apple orchards down by us, but now the land has been sold to developers,” McNama explained.
If you don’t care to pick your own fruit, don’t feel left out: there are plenty of places, from simple roadside stands to shops with a country flair, to sample and purchase the area’s freshest apples and cider, by the cup or the gallon.
Just as there are apple farms that sell pumpkins on the side, there are pumpkin farms that sell apples on the side. A number of both have petting zoos, too, and other fun activities for kids.
When it comes to pumpkins, there are few traditions that bring back those warm family memories than a visit to a pumpkin farm.
Some of the more popular pumpkin farms with multiple activities are: Happ’s Pumpkin Patch in Trevor, Borzynski’s Farm, west of Racine, Swan’s Pumpkin Farm in Franksville, and Jerry Smith’s Farm in Somers.
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KENOSHA NEWS FILE PHOTO
Pumpkins are piled high at a Somers stand.
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Rosemary Smith has worked magic with her artist’s brushes for 36 years, creating 70 to 80 pumpkin characters each year for the farm’s Halloween displays.
There’s a tried and true method she sticks with: she paints the Seven Dwarfs from Snow White first. “If I started with anything else, I may not finish,” Smith said, straightening Sleepy’s cap as the head on the mantel in her kitchen. “I paint them all and nobody bothers me while I paint.”
It can take Smith one to two hours to paint each pumpkin face, but the chore of scene set-up, including dressing the bodies, is delegated to others.
Smith’s is the kind of place where kids can just be kids, feeding the animals, eating those freshly baked cookies, and going for a hayride. Families can wander the property, visiting the scenes from children’s TV shows, movies and storybooks, each created in part with pumpkins. What you won’t see is characters with violent themes.
“People have begged me not to do Ninja Turtles. There’s too many bad things in the world going on, just too much violence,” Smith said, adding that her grandchildren know that no toy guns or swords are allowed in Grandma’s house.
This year, Jerry Smith’s planted 120 acres of pumpkins, but lost about 35 acres to the heavy rains, making for rotting pumpkins.
Be aware that some pumpkin fun places like Green Meadows Farm and Bear Den Petting Zoo and Farm, both in Waterford, and Fairwyn Farms in Burlington, have paid admissions.
If you want to try picking your own pumpkins, try Thompson’s Strawberry Farm west on Highway 50 off I-94 or the aforementioned Oriole Spring Orchard, where pumpkin picking begins Oct. 29.
Seasonal tip: wear old shoes, because pumpkin patches can be muddy.
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KENOSHA NEWS PHOTO BY SEAN KRAJACIC
A young girl picks a handful of apples at Apple Holler.
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A rundown on the pumpkin patches and apple farms in the area. Some are heavy on children's activities, while others lean more towards produce sales, home-made preserves and craft items ...
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Jerry Smith's Produce & Country Store
Where: 7150 18th St. (Highway L) in Somers
Information: (262) 859-2645
www.jerrysmithpumpkinfarm.com
Briefly: Open daily 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. Best known for those scenes with more than 70 hand-painted pumpkin heads. Plenty for kids to do, with a maze, animals, hay rides and a haunted bus.
- Harvest Time Farm
Where: 36116 128th St., Twin Lakes Information: (262) 877-4831
Briefly: Open daily from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., featuring, apples, and an apple barn with a doughnut shop and other goodies, this farm is on Highway CK near the Illinois state line. Try the cider shakes on weekends.
- Oriole Springs Orchard
Where: 35032 128th Street, Twin Lakes
Information: (262) 877-2436
Briefly: Open daily from 9 to 5:30 p.m. Visitors can pick their own apples. Pumpkin picking begins Sept. 29.
- Silver Creek Orchard
Where: 28115 75th Street in Salem Information: (262) 843-4677
Briefly: Apple barn is open from 9a.m. to 5 p.m. now through mid-October.
- Brightonwoods Orchard
Where: 1072 288th Ave., Burlington Information: (262) 878-3000 or www.brightonwoodsorchard.com Briefly: Open daily from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. through Thanksgiving. Large variety of heirloom apples. Fresh cider. Check out the two-story tree house.
- Happs Pumpkin Patch
Where: Highway C and Highway 83 in Trevor.
Information: (262) 862-6515
Briefly: Open Wed. to Sun. 10 a.m. to 8 p.m., till 11 p.m. on Fri., Sat. & Sun. Five acre corn maze, haunted house, ghouls bus and hay rides. Ride a train that goes through a haunted barn. There's apples and pumpkins, too.
- Farmer Brown's Fright Fest
Where: Highway 50, just west of Highway 45 in Bristol.
Briefly: Open daily 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Haunted hay rides, campfires and barn (for older kids). DJ on Friday and Saturday nights, weather permitting.. This place has more of a nighttime focus. Pumpkins for sale in the country market.
- Apple Holler
Where: Sturtevant just west of I-94 near the Racine county line. 5006 S. Sylvania Ave.
Information: (262) 886-8500 or www.appleholler.com
Briefly: Open daily 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. Between the apple picking, hay rides, animals, there's plenty to do. Expect crowds on the weekends.
- Swan's Pumpkin Farm
Where: Highway H in Franksville
Information: (262) 835-4885 or www.thepumpkinfarm.com
Briefly: Lots of age appropriate activities. Get lost in a gigantic corn maze (for big kids), a five-acre Corn City, barrel ride (good for little ones) as well as a spook house, and hay ride.
- Borzynski's Farm and Floral Market
Where: Highway 20 in Racine about a mile east of I-94
Information: (262) 886-2235 or www.borzynskis.com
Briefly: Open weekdays for large groups. Known for its themed corn maze, they also have a petting zoo, and hay rides. Pumpkin launch and the flashlight night on Saturdays are cool.
- Bear Den Zoo and Petting Farm Where: Northwest of Waterford on Highway 164
Information: (262) 895-6430 or www.beardenzoo.com
Briefly: Open weekends, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Fri./Sat. 7 -11 p.m. in October, weather permitting. Is it a zoo? Is it a farm? Go see the domestic and wild animals and you decide. The $7/adult, $6 kid admission includes a scenic hay ride through the woods. The haunted woods opens Oct. 6 and is extra.
- Green Meadows Farm
Where: Three miles west of Waterford on Highway 20
Information: (262) 534-2891 or www.greenmeadowsfarmwi.com
Briefly: The focus here is on farm animals. There is a $10 admission (children under 2 are free).
- Stiles Vegetable Farms
Where: 11717 Sheridan Rd., Pleasant Prairie
Information: (262) 694-5256
Briefly: Open daily 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Large stand selling apples, pumpkins and more.
- Thompson's Strawberry Farm
Where: 1400 - 75th St., Bristol
Information: (262) 857-2351
www.thompsonstrawberryfarm.com
Briefly: Open weekdays 1 to 5 p.m.; weekends 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Pick your own - buy one or a truckload. Raspberries available until a good hard frost.
- Haf's Road Orchard
Where: Three miles west of Powers Lake Walworth County
Information: (262) 279-3638
Briefly: Open weekdays noon to 6 p.m.; weekends 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., public welcome to walk around in the orchard, but you make your selections at the stand. Specializing in Honeycrisp apples. Pumpkins and gourds too.
- Schofield’s Orchard
Where: 2755 Schofield Rd, .5 mile north of Highway 50, 2 miles west of Lake Geneva
Information: (262) 249-1679
Briefly: Many apple varieties, pumpkins and pears, too.
- Kraus’ Pumpkin Farm
Where: 7820 18th St. Kenosha
Information: (262) 859-2145
Briefly: Open daily until dark. Fresh veggies galore, including pumpkins for carving and pie-making.
- Riverwood Produce
Where: 2920 - Seventh St., Kenosha
Information: (262) 552-8830
Briefly: Open daily from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Apples, pumpkins, and homemade jams and jellies.
- Windy Ridge Farm
Where: 900 100th Ave., Kenosha
Information: (262) 859-1836
Briefly: Open daily from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. pumpkins, winter squash and other goodies in their roadside stand.
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