Cabbage Patch Kids

This past weekend we decided to go apple picking with a few other families, and after extensive research, we settled on trying out Lawrence Orchards in Newburgh, New York. We've been to several orchards in the past, including the popular Harvest Moon and Maskers, but we've found the former too crowded and the latter too boring for the kids (it's just straight-up apple picking). Lawrence, I'd heard, provides a good mix of children's activities as well as other fruits and vegetables to pick in addition to the apples.

It was all true. Lawrence was a blast. My kids went from picking apples to picking grapes, corn, broccoli, cabbage and kale. I realized that I've lived 35 years and never actually seen a corn stalk up close. Did you know that the cob grows on the bottom of the stalk? Well, now you know.

I'd also never picked broccoli before, or even seen a broccoli plant. Prior to this, if you'd told me in a very convincing manner that broccoli grew on trees, I might have believed you. But now I know better. I also had no idea that cabbage plants are enormous. Big enough to sit in, which my kids tried to do.

After we were all picked out, we moved onto the adorable "play village." The owners have built a section of wooden structures that include a fire station, an old-fashioned school house, a general store, a church, and more. The interior of each building is very detailed, and the kids just loved it. Leah spent almost an hour in the school house, holding forth as the teacher to a crowd of younger children.

It was a very pleasant way to spend a beautiful fall day. There are other kids' activities that we did not have time to experience, including a train ride, a maze, and farm animals on the premises. I will say that the prices of the produce are on the expensive side, and it costs $3 a person just to get in, but the money was well spent. There was also hot food sold on the premises, as well as the requisite apple cider donuts.