Touring Boston – What to Know About Apple Picking at Tougas Farm

Brittney

I had a friend set up a toddler playgroup date to Tougas Farm, the one she claimed was her favorite place to go apple picking and I was excited to go experience another apple picking farm (see my post on Lookout Farm for the first experience).  I was extra excited because we didn’t have a car at the time and she offered to drive us there, which was amazing.  It seems like a lot of Pick Your Own Apple farms are a good 45+ minutes away from the Cambridge/Boston area and you really can’t get to them without a car.

What to Know About Apple Picking at Tougas Farm

This orchard is set up in two parts.  You drive there and park, across the street from the parking area is a barn where you go to purchase your pass or to pick fruit and on the same side as the parking lot there is the farm store, a huge playground, and farm animals.

Things to note about Tougas Farm:

Eating an apple at Tougas Farm

1.  How Pricing Works
Here you pay an initial admission price, I want to say it’s around $7-10/person and you get a sticker and a receipt saying you’ve paid.  Then you are given a bag for your fruit and sent into to orchard behind the barn.  You pick the fruit you want, then you take it back to the payment barn and they weigh it.  You are charged by pound, but the initial entrance fee you paid goes toward your fruit.  So if you go with two people you’ll pay $14 to get in, but that $14 gets you $14 worth of fruit.  If you pick more than $14 worth of fruit you just pay the extra per pound amount, if you pick less than you miss out on a few dollars worth of food.

2.  Travel
Their orchard seems fairly compact and it was easily walkable with a toddler without a stroller, but there is a little bit of walking involved.  There are thick patches of grass and wide walk ways between the trees so it would also be really easy to bring a stroller if you wanted or needed one.  Also different variety of apples have all be planted close to each other, so one row of apples will be Gala, the row next to it will be Cortland, the row next it will be something else, etc.  So it’s easy to get a good variety without having to do a lot of traveling.  

Picking apples at Tougas Farm

3. Helper Assistance
Around each area of picking they have farm workers telling you the process.  These people are great and they’ll explain to you and your kids how to pick fruit so you don’t pull a whole bunch you don’t mean to off the tree, how to find good, ripe fruit, and if you have questions about which apples taste which way these people are great for insights.  (also they have no qualms about you sampling the fruit as you go… thank goodness because I think my son ate his weight in apples while we picked.)

They had a smallish picking area, maybe 10 rows of apples open at a time (New rows open as all the apples from those rows get picked), but each row was a different kind, so I could pick some gala and some cortland and some … uh, yellow ones all kind of at the same time.  It was also great for my toddler son because he could just run wild through the different rows exploring and finding other kids.

Petting zoo at Tougas Farm

4. Playground
The playground is by the general store.  It’s big, and there are tires to climb on, an old tractor, a couple of big wooden play structures, swings, slides, things to climb on etc.  The playground is also surrounded by picnic tables if you bring snacks.

5. Farm Animals
This is for sure my sons favorite thing about this farm. They have lots of farm animals (goats, pigs, chickens, lamas, sheep) and for $1 you can buy a small bag of food pellets to feed the animals.  The animals were surprisingly soft and good about taking the food from small children and my son loved getting to poke the food through to them and getting soggy goat lip kisses on his hand.  Thankfully they also have a nice outdoor washing station right next to the animals so you can clean up as soon as you’re done.

6. Bathrooms
With kids bathrooms are so important and not all the farms have great one.  These ones are big and attached the general store next to the playground and animal yard.

7. General Store
They have a general store and some of my most favorite apple donuts.  If you come to pick apples you really shouldn’t leave without trying one of their apple donuts.

Summary:
This is my favorite farm that I’ve been to so far.  It’s less expensive than Look Out Farm (though it has fewer activities) but it still has plenty for kids to do and it’s a great day trip.   I’m fairly confident my son would be willing to brave the drive just to feed the animals.  The farm and picking is compact which makes it nice and easy to walk and they’ve really just made it a pretty experience with green grass between the fruit trees, a great play area, fun animals and nice bathrooms.

Rating:

★★★★★

Five stars, I thought this place was great.  It was perfect for a day outing with a toddler, I loved being able to walk around and play and not drag a stroller with me.  I thought the grass everywhere was a nice touch and we could not get enough of feeding the animals.

Have you been here before?  If so I’d love to know more about your experience and any tips or tricks you have in the comments section below. 

Tougas Farm

234 Ball Street
Northboro, MA

Phone: 508-393-6406
Website: http://www.tougasfarm.com/

35 Physical Objects And Things That Start with Letter Z

Brittney
Big list of things that start with letter Z
A group of my friends started doing something we are calling Toddler Time and each week we choose a letter to focus on.  I realized that finding objects that start with the letter of the week can be a challenge and I thought it might be helpful to have a long list of “Z” letter objects them on hand.  If I’ve missed something drop me a note in the comments, I would be thrilled to add even more letter “Z” objects.
  1. Zafu: A round cushion used for Zen meditation.
  2. Zamboni: A machine used to clean and smooth the surface of an ice rink.
  3. Zampone: An Italian dish made from a stuffed pig’s trotter.
  4. Zander fish: A species of fish, similar to pike, commonly found in Europe.
  5. Zapper: A device, typically a remote control, used to switch the functions of an electronic device.
  6. Zebra: A wild horse native to Africa, notable for its black and white stripes.
  7. Zebrafish: A small tropical freshwater fish known for its use in genetic research.
  8. Zebu: A species of domestic cattle originating in South Asia.
  9. Zen garden: A minimalist Japanese garden designed to encourage reflection and meditation.
  10. Zephyr: A soft, gentle breeze.
  11. Zeppelin: A type of rigid airship named after the German Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin.
  12. Zero: A number representing no quantity or null value.
  13. Zest: The outer, colored part of the peel of a citrus fruit, or the enthusiasm and energy one puts into an endeavor.
  14. Zeus: The king of the gods in ancient Greek religion and mythology.
  15. Zig Zag: A pattern or path that moves repeatedly between two directions or positions.
  16. Zinc: A chemical element with symbol Zn, used predominantly as a corrosion-resistant material.
  17. Zinnia: A genus of plants of the sunflower tribe within the daisy family.
  18. Zip Code: A system of postal codes used by the United States Postal Service.
  19. Zipline: An overhead cable or rope stretched between two points, along which a person or cargo can slide for transportation.
  20. Zipper: A device consisting of two flexible strips of fabric with interlocking metal or plastic teeth and a sliding mechanism, used to fasten clothing or bags.
  21. Zircon: A mineral stone, often used as a diamond simulant in jewelry.
  22. Zither: A stringed musical instrument utilized mainly in Eastern Europe and East Asia.
  23. Zitherist: An individual who specializes in playing the zither.
  24. Zodiac sign reader: A person who interprets and predicts events based on the positions of celestial bodies in the zodiac signs.
  25. Zombie: A fictional undead being, typically portrayed as a reanimated corpse or a mind-controlled human.
  26. Zonkey: A hybrid animal that results from crossbreeding a zebra and a donkey.
  27. Zoo: A facility housing and displaying various species of live animals for education and conservation purposes.
  28. Zookeeper: A person who maintains the welfare of animals in a zoo by feeding and monitoring their health.
  29. Zoologist: A scientist who studies the behavior, structure, physiology, classification, and distribution of animals.
  30. Zoot Suit: A men’s suit with high-waisted, wide-legged, tight-cuffed trousers and a long coat with padded shoulders, popular in the 1940s.
  31. Zorbing: The recreational activity of rolling downhill in a transparent, plastic ball or orb.
  32. Zorilla: A striped, polecat-like mammal native to Africa.
  33. Zucchini: A smooth, thin-skinned summer squash of Italian origin.
  34. Zucchini Bread: A sweet bread made from shredded zucchini, flour, and other ingredients.
  35. Zumba: A dance fitness program combining Latin and world rhythms with cardiovascular exercise.

Can you think of any other letter “Z” words?  If so please comment and let me know, I’d love to get them added to the list.

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Preschool Letter Craft – “S” is for “Sky”

Brittney
Letter S Craft - Toddler/Preshooler letter of the week craft S is for Sky with related craft, tracing sheets and fruits/vegetables.

Toddler/Preshooler letter of the week craft S is for Sky with related craft, tracing sheets and fruits/vegetables.

Supplies Needed:

  • Colored Craft Paper
  • Letter “S” Cutout
  • Elmer’s Glue
  • Cotton Balls
  • Marker

Set Up:

We started by taking our cotton balls and ripping them up into small fluffy shreds, then we covered our letter “S” with Elmer’s Glue.  Once our “S” was covered with glue we pressed our fluffy cotton ball shreds onto the “S” until it was covered, then we took our hands and pressed up the areas that were coming off the “S” so it had a more defined shape. We let it dry and glued it to our craft paper.

I waited until a properly cloudy day for this craft so that we could go outside when we finished and look up at the clouds.  I had hoped to show my son how fun it could be to look for shapes in the clouds but turns out he’s not quite ready for that.  In the end we just talked about different kinds of things we can find in the sky.  (Sun, moon, stars, airplanes, bird etc.)

Toddler/Preshooler letter of the week craft S is for Sky with related craft, tracing sheets and fruits/vegetables.

Tracing Letters:

Have you made this craft?  What was your experience like and do you have an suggestions to make it better?  I’d love to hear about them in the comments section below.

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Touring Boston – What to Know About Apple Picking at Lookout Farms

Brittney

Test

One of the first things my husband and I did after moving to Cambridge back in 2013 was going apple picking.  It sounded so New England and his school was planning a trip, renting a bus to haul all the students and families, and taking us out to the orchards.  How could we resist?

The place they chose, among the many Massachusetts Pick Your Own Apple Orchards was called Lookout Farm.

 

What to Know About Apple Picking at Lookout Farms

This was my first time apple picking so I wasn’t sure what to expect, my initial thought was that we would be climbing small ladders and throwing apples down to each other to put into burlap bags… but that’s not they way do things out here.

I soon found out that they grow dwarf/mini trees so that you can easily reach the apples from the ground and have no need for ladders. This is great (and much safer if you’re toting along tots), and it was still a lot of fun.  Not to mention that you get a pretty good view of the fruit your picking so it’s easier to get the good stuff.

Now that we’ve been in Cambridge for a few years I’ve had the chance to experience a handful of orchards and I’ve realized that they are all very different from each other, so I’d like to highlight the features you can expect at Lookout Farm.

Riding the train at Lookout Farm

1.  Price
I’ve found this to be one of the more expensive orchards, but with good reason because they really make it family affair that is amazing for kids, but I’ll get to that later.   You pay a person by person admission, ($9-$15/person depending on the day of the week, kids under two are free) in addition to the price of a bag that you will be filling with fruit.

2. Train Ride
This farm is huge and the different varieties are fruit are really spread out.  To make reaching the fruit easier on their guests Lookout Farms has a train that comes around and you hope on and off as you like when you reach the fruit you want to pick.  If your kid/s likes trains, count this as a total win.  It also makes it really easy to get around without having to haul or push a stroller.

3. Shade
They have planted arches of grape vines near where the train drops off and picks up so even on super hot days you can have shade.  I was pregnant when we went the first time and the day was blistering, so this was a huge blessing.

 

Playing on the playground at Lookout Farm

4. Play Area
This play area is amazing!  It was fun as an adult (we went before our son was born) and it looked incredible for kids.  There were lots of animals to see, you could ride ponies or camels, there was a great playground, lots of space to run around, covered picnic tables, a climbing wall, a burlap canvas maze, a mini caterpillar ride for little kids, a learning area where they could build some structures related to bees, a bounce house, and a giant hay pyramid to climb.

*In addition to this on the weekends they have face painters and performers.

5. Food
They have a snack shack located in the play area where you can buy burgers and the like and they have a country store at the entrance where you can buy fruits, canned goods, honey and the like.  We bought some pumpkin butter there and it was amazing.

Playing on the playground at Lookout Farm

Summary and Rating: ★★★★☆

This farm was a blast to spend the day at.  They had so much to do that you could easily spend multiple days there and there were tons of fun fall actives for kids.   The fruit we picked was delicious and I liked having a guide to give us some insights and tips about what we were doing and how to do it.  The farm was clean, and play area was fun and the food was delicious.  The only draw back of this farm is that it’s a bit more pricy than the others, but considering the kid play Mecca it is, I say it’s certainly worth trying out at least once. Four starts, because this place was amazing, clean and fun, but it was also expensive.

 

Have you been here before?  If so I’d love to know more about your experience and any tips or tricks you have in the comments section below.

Farm Address:

Belkin Family Lookout Farm
89 Pleasant Street South
Natick, MA 01760

Phone: 508–653–0653
Website: http://lookoutfarm.com/

Family Friendly Boston – How to Have a Fantastic Camping Trip With Kids When You Don’t Have Gear (Shawme-Crowell State Forest)

Brittney

I grew up in a family that loved camping and all things outdoors… and I married a man who hates anything that could be considered remotely dirty.  With that said camping has not been very high on his list of priorities but it’s something I’ve really been wanting to do and really wanted to take our son to do.

How to Have a Fantastic Camping Trip With Kids When You Don

As another summer season was nearing it’s closed I realized that another year was going to pass without us getting out and really enjoying nature the way I did growing up, and felt disappointed about the loss and I also realized if I wanted this to happen I was going to have to make it happen.

getting into locked yurt

I wanted to go camping, but since my husband is not an outdoors man we have zero camping gear.  So I figured camping was out of the questions and I started looking around the different Massachusetts state parks to at least try to find a place were we could have a fire and make some s’mores.

As I was searching I came across the “Yurt” and all of the sudden my dream of taking our young son camping while being 8 months pregnant became a possibility.  I was thrilled, and ended up booking a Yurt at the Shawme-Crowell State forest, thinking that we could go spend a night there, then drive down Cape Cod and enjoy a day at the beach the following day.  It sounded like the perfect short trip for our little family.

Inside of yurt - Shawme-Crowell

Things to Note:

1. Yurts are a great way to camp for families without camping gear
Yurts, if you haven’t hear of them before are round, canvas/wood covered structures.  The ones at Shawme-Crowell had cement floors, locking doors, a wooden table and beds with mattress.  Which meant as far as camping gear went the only thing I needed to bring was blankets and pillows to cover the mattress.  Perfect!  That also meant I didn’t need to have or set up a tent and we could pretty much get to the camp ground a be ready to go.

Each yurt at Shawme-Crowell also had a water sprout by it, a cooking grill and a fire pit.  You can choose if you wanted a 4 or 6 person Yurt.  

Out side of yurt with fire pit - Shawme-Crowell State Forest

2. Firewood
Don’t bring firewood with you camping.  If you want a camp fire you will have to buy the firewood from the camp ground.  Apparently there have been lots of problems/fears about bugs being brought in with outside wood so they don’t allow any.  We bought six logs for $5.

3. Yurt Rental
You have to rent a yurt for at least two nights (which was a bummer for us because we only wanted to stay for one, but we still had to book it for two)  and you can choose the size you want for your family between a 4 or 6 person yurt.  The price was around $55/night.

4. Amenities
Yurts have a water spout, cooking grill and fire pit right next to each one.  There is also power in yurts including lights and outlets to plug in whatever you need. If you walk down the road a little bit there is a bathroom with flushing toilets and showers.

Out side of yurt with fire pit - Shawme-Crowell State Forest

Summary and Stars: ★★★★★

Five stars.  We had a fantastic time camping here.  Staying in yurt made it so easy and even my outdoor hating husband admitted that it was fun and worth the memories.  If your looking into planning a camping trip with kids I would highly suggest this as a painless way to go enjoy the outdoors without the headache of hauling around and setting up tons of gear.

Have you been here before?  If so I’d love to know more about your experience and any tips or tricks you have in the comments section below. 

Shawme-Crowell State Forest
42 Main Street
Sandwich, MA 02563

Phone: 508 888-0351
State Forest Website: http://www.mass.gov/eea/agencies/dcr/massparks/region-south/shawme-crowell-state-forest.html 

Website for booking a yurt: http://www.reserveamerica.com/camping/shawme-crowell-state-forest/r/campgroundDetails.do?contractCode=MA&parkId=32621

Shawme-Crowell State Forest