Hello, everyone! We're open, and we're learning the Covid-control ropes. Weekend tractor rides, Farnum Hill Cider tasting, and Growlers are back, with 2020's precautions in place.  Scroll down for that news. We've learned a LOT from the suggestions of customers and retail employees. (Anyone with helpful comments, please write This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .)  And ALWAYS call with questions: 603/448-1511!


OPEN DAYS & HOURS
Mondays, Thursdays & Fridays: 9AM-6PM
Weekends & Holidays: 10AM-5PM

CLOSED
Tuesdays & Wednesdays

COVID PLANS:
Scroll down for: Masks, Distancing, Retail Stand, Tasting, Pick-Your-Own, Tractor Rides, Picnic Setups, Parking, Farnum Hill Ciders ... more will be added as Fall comes on. Call (603)448-1511 with questions!

MASKS:
All visitors over the age of two must wear masks. (Required by the state of VT. Lebanon NH requires masks for everyone over 10 years old, but we're five minutes from VT and we'd rather use the most cautious local standard).

DISTANCING:
Out in the orchard distancing is not difficult, but obviously our old fun retail tent just won't work in 2020. So - welcome to the new barn, where distancing works fine!  We'll have an additional checkout in the field for extra help spreading everyone out. (See below for our PYO changes.)

RETAIL STAND IN THE NEW CIDER BARN:
The floor plan inside the big barn is working well. This is how it looks now:

PICK-YOUR-OWN APPLES
Our 2020 PYO is really different, because there's no weighing in. People have been choosing among three different-sized bags for pre-purchase: half-peck (about 5 lbs full), peck (about 10 lbs full), or half-bushel (about 20 lbs full.) Customers buy empty bags, head into the orchard, and pick as many apples as they want, up to the limit of the bags they've chosen. So far everyone has been very pleased! As needed, we'll have an extra checkout in the field for PYO. (This is what most PYO orchards are doing under Covid conditions - once a bag is yours, no-one else will have to touch it. If you have extra fruit, maybe give it to a neighbor.)



RETAIL OUTSIDE:
As you may already know, the presale of Pick-Your-Own bags is mostly happening outside the building (unless it's raining).

We've decided the pumpkins should be outside too, by the Pick-Your-Own tent and the mums. They'll be priced as "Small / Medium / Large" rather than being individually weighed and priced, so customers can look them over without rolling them over to see the prices. We're trying to hold down the amount of touching each pumpkin gets. Ideally, you eyeball them and pick the one you want.

SHOPPING BAGS
We'll have shopping bags here, but it's fine to bring your own for shopping through the big retail stand, now that local stores are allowing it. Unlike the dear old tent setup, there's a concrete floor in the 2020 farm-stand -- so we want to minimize the prospect of jelly-jars being dropped! (In the tent they just bounced.) We're not touching your bags: we'll check your items by looking at them.

TASTING
In 2020 we won't offer the usual buckets of tasting apples in the farm-stand, but we have set up an isolated tasting corner for sampling Farnum HIll Ciders. ALWAYS call ahead on Mondays, Thursdays and Fridays to make sure we can staff that corner. Weekends should be no problem. For growler customers, same thing - we'll be offering tastes of small blends and filling growlers anytime we can staff that corner. Please check ahead at (603)448-1511.  Always sanitize your growlers at home before bringing them in! We'll spot-sanitize where there's any contact but we can't do the full job on people's growlers. Questions? (603)448-1511.




TRACTOR RIDES:
We've just put tape stripes to show areas six feet apart on the flatbed trailer. It may mean more delays, because fewer people can fit on the trailer, but we'll give it a whirl!  We'll see how it goes! It seems we can carry two Covid pods per trip. (A 'pod' is a group of people who have ascertained that they are safe close together without masks. Obviously the number of people per pod varies a lot.)


PICNIC TABLES & BENCHES
We'll put sanitizer at each picnic table, and of course space tables wide apart. You can decide whether to use the tables or just bring your own blanket! Here's a nice picture from 2019 - in 2020 the groups will be smaller, further apart, and masked up when they're not sitting still, eating...
As for benches, we'll leave it up to your individual judgment whether to use them. Here's another nice photo from last year. This year the view will be just as great, seen over your masks...


PARKING
The main parking will be closer to the big barn, in our Big Stearns orchard. Like most grass parking, it's on uneven ground. EXTREMELY SLOW DRIVING will be necessary. Just another call on our patience in this extra-strange year!

If you have suggestions, please call 603 448-1511 or write This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .

fShare

Tweet