Forsythe Family Farms: Same spirit, new location

Special Halloween Day: October 31 from 9:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.!
For years, Forsythe Family Farms was Toronto's closest working farm open to the public. A few years ago, they moved to Uxbridge area.  I recently went to visit the new location and found out it's a lovely country ride as you approach the farm. No wonder their new motto is "A little drive for a whole lot of country".

Driving towards the farm on Cragg Road, west of Marsh Hill Road

Those who knew their other location will recognize this Three Little Pigs scene from their beloved Enchanted Forest. The little forest in their current location did not allow them to reproduce the exact same concept but check the photos below to see how they've turned it into a Fairy Tale Lane with additional I-Spy fun walk in their Forest Discovery Trail.

Forsythe Family Farms has always been good with their attention to detail. Throughout the site and in their Barnyard Adventures, we see cute signs and family-tested simple activities: a fully equipped kitchen in a tiny playhouse, upraised slides, photo ops corners, wagon ride to the Fairy Tale Lane, 2-acre corn maze, and many animals in the Animal Barn, where you can feed them a 50¢ bag of healthy greens.

  

I was surprise to see many teens visiting the place on their own. Not because they were accompanying younger siblings but simply for the fun of it.

You can easily walk to the Fairy Tale Lane (probably a 10-min. walk). When you take the wagon ride, it stops at the entrance of the Forest Discovery Trail and waits for you to return to the farm. I would recommend walking back instead to have more time to look at the fairy tales with the kids and to spot all the items on the list of the I-Spy game.

  

I Spy an owl!

I Spy a frog!

I saw that some people had a sheet that they could put to use at three different spots in the maze, opting for different elements to draw on an empty pumpkin face. At the exit of the maze, they could find out the name of their pumpkin, depending on their overall selection, on a panel with 64 pumpkin faces.

Remember your maths? 4 choices x 4 choices x 4 choices = 64 options

Good to know! You can ask the staff around to let you hold a bunny!

While stopping in their market store to grab a freshly made apple pie, I found out they have a good selection of frozen meat from nearby farms. I was there on the special Apple Cider Day when a mobile cider-making truck was making and pasteurizing cider and putting them in containers that can keep cider on the shelf for a full year! (The farm carries this cider.)

Look at this view! It's so pretty Mr. and Mrs. Forsythe decided to create a patio overlooking it all.

Looking westbound on Cragg Road, on my way back to Marsh Hill Road

mmmmm

mmmmm

This Pumpkinland puts the "more" in Whittamore's Farm!

Pumpkinland 2015: September 12 to October 31, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. (2016: September 17 to October 31)

Whittamore's Farm used to be nice, but now, "nice" does not even come close! It has become one of the best fun farms in the GTA.

I recently visited it on a Sunday during their Pumpkinland event and joined a sea of cars in the parking lot. Don't let this scare you! There was plenty of room to run from one activity to the next in the large Fun Farm Yard, where everyone was having a ball.
 
By the admission gate, I could see the normal fixtures of any good fun farm: sandbox with big tractor and small trucks, inflatable structure, piles of pumpkins and a few farm animals.

 

Once inside the Fun Farm Yard, I heard loud laughter coming from a little booth where players were vigorously activating antique water pumps to provide water for little ducks rushing down a gentle slope into a bucket. A duck racewas going on and it was a riot! It costs an extra $2, to buy a rubber chick (which you keep) but you can then race as long as you want, grabbing your duck from the bucket and putting it back in line.

 

There are lots of photo ops all around the site: wooden milking cow, the cow and calf bench and cut-outs peppered around the site. 

I love Whittamore's attention to detail, down to many cute games by the activities. 

The following was my absolute favourite. I assume it is offered only during Pumpkinland. It's Whittamore's take on the "Guess Who" game, called "Who's Your Pumpkin?", where two families can compete to guess each other's pumpkin off a giant board. "It was the pumpkin with a tongue!", exclaimed the toddler to his dad after a good game. Awww.

Part of the regular Fun Farm Yard are the playground with tractor tires and horse swings made out of tires, a pedal tractor track...

... a real tree fort,

... a "mining' experience (for an extra fee),

... and my three favourites: the jumbo jumping pillows (the largest bouncing structures I've seen in the GTA), the funny animated singing chicken show (funny animatronic chicken doing lip sync), and the Strawberry hill with a slide, from which we get a nice view over the largest pumpkin field.

  

    

 

During Pumpkinland, the wagon ride gets you through a tiny Spookey Forest. As we waited in the wagon for the ride to start, I heard a dad observing, for the benefit of his preschooler: "Look at this huge field! There must be at least ten pumpkins in this patch!" (a fact that his son was quick to rectify). Some dads are too cute.

  

During the Pumpkinland event, they also add a corn maze, a pumpkin bouncer and the famous Pumpkin Cannon Show to the rest of the activities we can normally enjoy in the Fun Farm Yard. 

  

On your way out, it is a good idea to stop by the farm shop to grab a pie (cooked or frozen and uncooked) or a treat from their bakery. They also carrying produce and preserves, among other things.