Hello, everyone! Our orchard's fall outlook on August 28, 2020 is below - we'll add more details as they happen. There's news on tractor rides (we hope to offer them after all - starting the second weekend in September, weather permitting) and bringing your own bags.
Below are our basic farm-stand and Pick-Your-Own plans for Fall 2020. We've thought hard about the Covid policies, of course. If you've been here often, you might enjoy a different layout in 2020! (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!
OPENING DAY: Saturday, September 5
OPEN DAYS & HOURS
Mondays, Thursdays & Fridays: 9AM-6PM
Weekends & Holidays: 10AM-5PM
CLOSED
Tuesdays & Wednesdays
Scroll on down for more 2020 changes. We'll keep adding information right up to opening.
COVID PLANS:
Scroll down for: Masks, Distancing, Retail Stand, 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:
It's not set up inside yet. Early, the setup will be small. We allow six feet between covid-pods, like the grocery store. As usual, more and more varieties will come in from the field so our floor plan will get bigger. (See Fall Farmstand Forecast for info on the usual fall cycle.)
Below is a floor plan for the distanced farm-stand at peak size, a few weeks after opening. We may change it as we learn more, after opening the barn and getting your suggestions. For example, we're wondering if the pumpkins should be outside. We're trying to hold down the amount of touching each pumpkin gets -- to make it easier to eyeball them and pick the one you want without turning it over to see the price. They'll be priced as "Small / Medium / Large" rather than being individually weighed and priced.
Thanks to grocery stores, we've all learned to maneuver! Sorry if you can't see details on your phone - it's big. The rollup doors will be open, for lots of light and air in there. Again, the farm-stand only gets this big after a few weeks. We start with fewer apple varieties available... shorter paths to walk! Everything we usually offer will be available when it's ready!
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. We're planning to minimize touching your bags: we'll check your items by looking at them. 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..)
TASTING
In 2020 we won't offer the usual buckets of tasting apples, or pour samples of sweet cider and Farnum Hill hard ciders. It's frustrating, but we can't yet see a way to safely offer public tasting.
PICK-YOUR-OWN APPLESOur 2020 PYO will be really different, because there won't be any weighing-in.
Instead, we'll offer 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 will 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. 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.)
TRACTOR RIDES:
We're now thinking we CAN do tractor rides - we CAN keep Covid-pod groups 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. NOTE: On Labor Day weekend we probably won't do the rides, we've made so many changes that we just want to test during the first weekend without adding tractor rides to the new traffic pattern.
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!
FARNUM HILL CIDERS RETAIL
We will have Farnum Hill Ciders in bottles, cans and bagnums available in the retail stand, but we won't pour samples. Public tastings are just not smart these days. Growler people please stay tuned: we are trying to figure out whether we can refill your growlers at the 2020 retail stand in a sensible way. 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. .
