Day Trip to Hodgson’s Farm, Walden, NY

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Day trips.  These past couple of days this is all NYCity Mama could think of. Her desire to get away from the hot and humid city and go out somewhere, on a day trip with the family.

Luckily, this day, was the celebration of her friends Neeka and Rob son’s birthday, R. He was 3 and in celebration, they had been invited to drive upstate to go blueberry picking.  Mama couldn’t wait.  She hadn’t seen her friends since she interviewed Neeka about her toy shop, and was eager to see her good friends again.

So the family made their way 1.5 hours away from their little apartment in Washington Heights towards the town of Walden, NY. As they drove Mama and her husband couldn’t help but admire all the green that surrounded them.  There was no traffic and it was road as far as the eyes could see.  Mama’s husband commented, as he often does on trips likes these, about his longing for a motorcycle. The boys sat in the back, quietly taking in the breeze from the windows and letting the sun kiss their faces as they stared outside.

They approached a sign welcoming them to the town of Montgomery.  And as they drove by they saw corn fields and horse farms, beautiful farm houses with flowers hanging from the porch where the rocking chairs sat.  They entered what Mama guessed must be their downtown.  They passed little shops with cute signs, and quiet streets before crossing the bridge that crossed over the creek.

For a city girl like Mama, these kind of small towns are always great to visit and drive through.  Unlike her husband, she didn’t really ever live in a small town, so she is always fascinated by them and often finds them to be charming.

They arrive to their destination: Hodgson’s Farm. They have a wonderful U-Pick system for their fruits and vegetables, and have tables next to their fields should one wish to have one set up for party’s such as R.’s. When they arrived everyone was seated next to the blueberry fields getting ready to dig into R’s birthday cupcake treats before heading out for the main activity of the day.  Mama’s boys couldn’t have more excited!

They finished their snacks and were getting ready to make their way into the field, but not before R. ran over to a patch of grass and then ran back to hand his mother some “flowers” he had picked for her.  Mama thought that was probably the sweetest gesture she had ever seen from a little boy.

With that they all headed out into the fields. Unlike R., whose parents actually have an organic farm and with whom he is used to participating in these activities, Mama’s boys had never, ever been berry picking and they did so very carefully, examining each blueberry before they picked them, careful to not let any of them drop.  While her 11 year old kept eating them (and it was hard not too! They are the sweetest blueberries they have ever tasted!), her 2.5 year old and 4 year old were very focused on the task at hand.

They actually picked for a longer period of time than what Mama expected.  Granted her 2.5 ear old, along with R., would kind of sray away from the field at times, but they would always manage to find their way back and continue.

After awhile, the sun felt warmer, so Mama walked around a bit with one of the boys to check out the site and their flowers.  They had a wonderful, colorful selection of them to pick from.

The boys had an amazing time.  They loved walking around the farm.  They enjoyed playing with their friends and picking the blueberries. They liked walking into the various greenhouses and smelling the beautiful assortment of flowers and touching the garden displays placed throughout.

It was enough to make this Mama contemplate on moving out of the big city full time.  But alas, once an NYCity Mama, always an NYCity Mama at heart.  But lucky for her, she always has the next berry picking season, as well as her wonderful friends, to bring her and her family back for another Day Trip Adventure!

Check out Hodgson’s Farms’ plants and produce in Union Square Green Market and others here! 

For more information, including location visit their site here.

UPDATE: 7/21/09  Blueberry Bonanza

NYCity Mama finally baked some goods with the blueberries they didn’t eat or use for pancakes.  They were the sweetest berries and the best treats ever!

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