THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, October 11, 1994 TAG: 9410110041
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E01 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY ELIZABETH SIMPSON, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Long : 166 lines
EVERY NOW AND AGAIN you need to go to a place where all seems right with the world.
A place down narrow asphalt roads that curve and dip between bean fields. Where the horizon is a jagged line of pastures and woods and small farm houses. Where the sky is that crisp, clean blue that looks as if it was just squeezed from a tube of paint.
A place of pumpkins.
That place, one recent Saturday, was the Henley Farm in Pungo. It's one of a half dozen or so farms that open their fields to the public every October for hayrides and pumpkin picking.
We chose Henley's by happenstance and liked what we found. A very simple place with a small, hand-lettered sign easy to overlook - Henley Farm, You Pick - but a front field of pumpkins you can't miss.
They are enormous and so bright the color could be used to make safety jackets for traffic directors. This is the kind of field Linus must wait in while looking for The Great Pumpkin.
It has arrived. In multitude. At the Henley Farm.
We pull onto the gravel road and notice a truckload of people waving their arms and pointing back at us. Hmm, we think. Why are they gesturing so wildly? Then we realize they're trying to get the guy driving the tractor with the hay wagon to stop. Not for them, for us.
It seems downright neighborly. Or maybe they just wanted the other family on the wagon to have some company.
We scramble out of the car, climb onto the straw-filled wagon pulled by a big blue tractor. Trundle past fields of cantaloupe, broccoli and beans. The wagon ride gives us just enough time to soak in the sun, breathe autumn air and entertain thoughts of moving to the country, but not so much time that the 1-year-old attempts a dive overboard.
The pumpkin patch at the end of the ride has been razed, making it easy for kids to run across without getting their feet tangled in vines. The pumpkins, small enough for a toddler to handle, are set out as carefully as Easter eggs on a park lawn.
We pick out a half-dozen or so, and catch a ride back to the stand, where you can buy giant pumpkins, jams, relishes, Indian corn and gourds.
We pack away our pumpkins and drive back down the road, casting a backward glance at a place where all seems right with the world, where the sky meets the meadow and where the pumpkins are always great.
Here's a list of farms that have pumpkin-picking hayrides for children. We got these through agricultural agents who warned the list may not be all inclusive. CHESAPEAKE BERGEY'S DAIRY FARM
Address: 2221 Mount Pleasant Road
Phone: 482-4711, 482-4712
Days: Saturdays, Oct. 15, 22, 29
Hours: 9 a.m. until 5 p.m., with an hour break at noon for the horses to rest. Rides leave every 20 minutes.
Price: $1 per person, pumpkins are 25 cents a pound, up to 40 pounds. Giant pumpkins are 20 cents a pound. Miniature pumpkins are 50 cents.
Description: Princess and Petunia, Belgium horses, pull hay wagons out to the field where the children and parents are dropped off. They can stay as long as they want and catch a wagon ride back. Bergey's also has a store where you can buy ice cream, cinnamon rolls, cookies, apple cider. Pumpkin ice cream is for sale during October. Children can also look at calves and other farm animals in the barnyard behind the store. CLARKE FARM
Address: 3833 Bruce Road in Western Branch area.
Phone: 484-3258
Days: Every day
Hours: 10 a.m. until dark
Price: Hayrides cost $1, and pumpkins are 30 cents a pound. Children under 5 are free.
Description: Three tractor-pulled carts take children to the fields. There's a special field with small pumpkins for children to pick. Fields with bigger pumpkins for older children and adults. GUM TREE FARM
Address: 1900 Pocaty Road
Phone: 421-9700
Days: Open house Oct. 15, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.; and Oct. 16, noon to 5 p.m. to benefit the Chesapeake Public School Nurses Association.
Price: $1 for the hay ride.
Description: An antique tractor pulls the hay wagon around the sheep farm. During the open house, there will be sheep shearing demonstrations and sheep herding by border collies. Folk artists will be weaving baskets, spinning wool and providing music. Wool products will be displayed, and food and crafts will be for sale. HICKORY RIDGE FARM
Address: 2928 South Battlefield Boulevard, second farm past the Hickory Ruritan Club
Phone: 421-4720
Days: Every day
Hours: 9 a.m. until dark
Price: Pumpkins cost 29 cents a pound. Hayrides on weekends are free.
Description: Hay ride goes through fields that have fall decorations and cutout characters. POWELL'S PICK YOUR OWN
Address: South Battlefield Boulevard, first farm past the Hickory Ruritan Club.
Phone: 421-3607
Days: Every day
Hours: 9 a.m. until 7 p.m.
Price: $1 for a hayride, 29 cents a pound for pumpkins.
Description: Kids ride out to the pumpkin field in a tractor-pulled wagon. Learn about farming on the way. Cutout characters are located throughout the fields. NORFOLK THE GREAT PUMPKIN PATCH AT NORFOLK FARM MARKET
Address: 1299 N. Military Highway
Phone: 480-FARM
Days: Every day
Hours: Regular hayrides begin about 3 p.m. and last until dark. The Hilarious Happy Halloween Hayride is a separate event that begins Oct. 21 and runs through Oct. 30, 6:30 until 9 p.m.
Price: The regular hayrides cost $2 a person or $5 for a group up to eight people. The Hilarious Happy Halloween Hayride costs $2 a person or $7 for a group up to eight, proceeds benefit a local charity. Cost of pumpkins average $3 to $5.
Description: The regular hayride is a tractor pulled wagon ride over 35 acres. The ride takes about 10 minutes. There's a free maze for the children, and several areas where children can have their photograph taken. Children also receive free stickers and coloring cards. The Hilarious Happy Halloween Hayride is a ride through fields with 200 characters. Children should bring flashlights for the ride. The ride is for families with younger children since it is not spooky. VIRGINIA BEACH HENLEY FARM
Address: 3513 Charity Neck Road in Pungo.
Phone: 426-7501
Days: Saturdays and Sundays
Hours: 10 a.m. until 6 p.m.
Price: No charge for ride. 30 cents a pound for pumpkins.
Description: Tractor-pulled hay ride to the fields. Also have miniature pumpkins, gourds, corn stalks, Indian corn and vegetables for sale. PRINCESS ANNE PRODUCE
Address: 2400 London Bridge Road
Phone: 427-9520
Days: Hayrides 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays; 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturdays; noon to 5 p.m. on Sundays. The Haunted Hayride is Oct. 14 and 15, and Oct. 21 through 31. Hours for the Haunted Hayride are 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. weekdays, and 7 p.m. to 11 p.m. on weekends.
Price: $2 for hayrides during the day. Infants free. The Haunted Hayride is $6 per person. Special group rates and times.
Description: Tractor-pulled hay wagon goes past the Princess Anne horse stables, circles around fields and past a duck pond. Pumpkins are 35 cents a pound. Princess Anne Produce is also sponsoring a scare crow contest with cash prizes. There's also a petting farm that has miniature ponies and goats, chickens and a baby Brahma bull. The Haunted Hayride has actors who appear throughout the ride to make it spooky. ILLUSTRATION: Staff color photo by STEVE EARLY
Taylor Early walks through the pumpkin patch at henley Farm.
by CNB