"NO PETS SMOKING FOOD BEYOND THIS POINT"…read more I muddled over the significance of this sign as we entered Tweite's Pumpkin Patch. It's a place designed for kids. There is a little play town (2 stories) where kids run from room to room and up and down. There also is an escape tube to a deck in back of this building which has a slide. If you are one of those hovering parents, your life just got more difficult. Slides ... this place has 'em. From the 2 story black tube wonders to the 3 ft variety integrated into a "tractor". Be ready to play the contortionist as you climb up with your child to slide down the big tube. Nonetheless, we had a great time sliding. There are tires to climb on. Tubes and drums to bang on. There's a tractor ride with wagons. A stage with a kids show. A mini golf course ($3) A pumpkin patch where you can pick your own. There is also a corn maze which may be done independently from the rest of the patch($7). We had a great time. A helpful staff member Isaac walked our pumpkins out to the car. Hmm, that sign must have worked. We never saw a single pet smoking food in the whole place.

I took 4 kids to Tweite's on an MEA day. It was fairly crowded but not terribly so. The kid's…read moreages ranged from 10-12. There were lots of things to do...nothing super exciting. But still a place to get some fresh air and exercise. I would think it would be more fun to kids under 10. We have been to something in Texas that was similar that was much more fun. Before we went, I checked their website and saw they had a whole food court with lots of different options. Perfect! I planned our outing to include lunch in the middle for a break. However, when we arrived and paid (way too much for what you get) two of the 4 kids were starving. So I sent the other two off to explore while I headed towards the food court. It was closed. The only food offerings was a "snack shack" with a bit of a line, but not too bad. So we got in line. The only lunch offerings were hot dogs and nachos. Ok...fine. 35 minutes. That line took 35 minutes to get 2 hot dogs and nachos. It was just absurd. The hot dogs were taking the longest because a young woman was (without gloves on) having to pick up each hot dog and inserting a thermometer in. Then putting it back and picking up another one and doing it again...over and over until she found one hot enough. All while the other food is cooling off. What were they thinking? Then...you have to go into a different line to get drinks, chips and to pay. *Sigh* 45 minutes later me and the kids sit down to put some food in our bellies. The nachos...chili and cheese were inedible. I had a couple because I was just that hungry. But I have never had anything quite as disgusting. But the kids were ok with their hot dogs and chips. We headed off to see if we could find the other 2 kids. We thought the tractor-wagon ride was the best option. I think this is a good idea. It has 3 stops around the farm to cut down on walking. We were waiting for about 20 minutes by the chickens. Suddenly everyone there started getting eaten alive by some tiny bugs. Everyone was doing the bug dance. The worker there was completely disinterested. I even told her. One of the kids with me was getting big welts, but all three of us have them today. I have like 20. So we found the older two kids coming out of the corn maze. They said it "sucked" and wasn't fun so they just cut through. They have both liked them in the past so I think the lack of a map and the poor state of the corn stocks made it more frustrating then fun. But at that point these kids started talking about being STARVING. I was hearing people talking about how it was taking even longer to get food (one lady said she gave up after an hour) and sure enough, the line was longer and people looked more upset. At that point we decided to leave and get a real lunch and go to Oxbow (where we actually had a good time). The way Tweite's handled this was inexcusable. If they knew they would get a crowd (Of course on MEA days they would, they even opened for it specifically), they should have either been prepared to feed them, or put out a sign outside the drive in saying food offerings were limited and suspended their food policy about bringing your own in. I would have ran and grabbed lunch for the kids and we would have then come back and enjoyed the slightly enjoyable farm.

Nice orchard with a good selection of apples, gourds and squash. Looks like a kid friend place too.read more

Visited this orchard on a nice late October Sunday and had the best afternoon! It is $8/person for…read morea 1/4 peck of apple picking (tasting allowed) and can pay more for bigger bags. As a group of four we greatly enjoyed walking around the orchard and finding our favorite apple varieties. Afterwards we stopped at the little cafe for some apple cider donuts and beignets, all which were warm, fresh, and absolutely delicious!! Ended our visit by picking a few pumpkins to take home for carving/painting! Would definitely recommend for couples and families as a fun fall activity!

An amazing and peaceful farm ! A great place for the whole family. Wonderful flowers!read more

Luckily a friend of mine KNOWS how much I love U-Pick farms. Of all kinds. And this one is…read morecompletely full of flowers. Wild flowers, sun flowers, other flowers I didnt even know the name for.... Their season is short (Minnesota summers are short) but that makes it all the more special when you can sneak away from the city and explore Berry and Bloom Farm. It's also the most instagrammable spot ever, and the most quaint. The U-pick flower portion is on the "honor system." It is family owned, they only ask people leave a couple bucks for a few flowers (vases can be purchased for a few dollars more.) And I would probably hunt someone down if they took advantage of this amazingly open, kind, gift to humanity. I didn't take any flowers home, but left a few dollars any way because you truly can FEEL how much love and passion goes into this farm. Please understand that if you plan to visit: family owned. Small farm. Trusting people. Dont ruin the kindness :) Its about 30 minutes out of Rochester (great spot to explore if youre visiting the Mayo Clinic on a health trip.) Be sure to check their website though to ensure they are still open. This is going to be a permanent stop every time I visit this part of Minnesota.

If you have not had a chance to visit Rusty Bucket Acres, you MUST put it on your Bucket list (pun…read moreintended. LOL). Whether you live in Stillwater, MN, or live in Seattle, Washington - a visit to RBA is a must. The moment you drive up to RBA, you know that you are in for an experience to remember. Lorna and Shelly greet you with big smiles, positive energy and true joy in sharing the amazing animal sanctuary they have worked hard to build, grow, and maintain. The animals are the true stars on this farm. Each one of them has a gift just waiting to be shared. Maybe it is a hug from Zeke (one of the mini donkeys), or for you to kick back and lay on Dave (the mini cow) or let Kenny (one of the goats) snuggle up against you - you will be loved. These animals can pick up on how you are feeling, and they offer the healing capabilities they have to offer. Pull up a mat in the pasture and just let yourself relax. I have had the honor of volunteering AND visiting the farm multiple times and every time is a new experience. I'm so thankful to live close enough to visit as often as I would like. Make sure RBA is on your list too! Tips for when you visit: 1. Dress for a visit to a farm with LIVE ANIMALS: Know you will be licked, rubbed up against, sat on and loved on by animals. You will get dirty, and it is fantastic! 2. Don't be afraid of the animals: These animals are worked with every day, and they know you are there to learn and love. Let yourself love on them - let them love on you. 3. Help keep the farm up and running: It is not mandatory to donate, but I strongly encourage to do so. Whether it is $10 or $100, every dollar is spent to keep this sanctuary available for others to experience. If you can't give money, they also love when people want to come and volunteer. 4. Most importantly - have fun! It is an experience you will always remember!

This farm has something for everyone! You can feed animals, sit on the Healing Hill and the animals…read morecome to you, sit by you, snuggle with you and you will automatically feel the stress leave your body. They will be offering a calendar of classes (which will include a visit with the animals) where you will be using items from the farm to make works of art! They are open to the public (must reserve a spot), will take donations to keep the farm running, and will do private events. They keep adding wonderful new animals (alpacas, sheep, goats, ducks, chickens, a pig, a horse and the donkeys - I've probably forgotten some.) If you are in need of some respite and relaxation, you must try Rusty Bucket Acres - and bring the FAMILY!

Planning a family outing, one of my cousins suggested the pizza farm. I was intrigued, but a little…read moreskeptical, since pizzas don't exactly grow on farms. The farm itself is cute. Plenty of space to park and lots of room to sit out and enjoy your day. There are hiking trails, goats, outdoor games, and, the day we happened to visit, there was also live music. There were 6 of us in our group, so we ordered 3 pizzas and I saw pizza fries and wanted those, so we got those as well. Since they do wood-fired here, I was thinking they would be similar to Punch in terms of size, and I was sorely mistaken. 3 pizzas and pizza fries was all together too much for the 6 of us. In hindsight, I'd probably skip the pizza fries, since they were also the same size as the pizzas and the crust wasn't terribly crispy (definitely neopolitan style), the fries couldn't dunk in the sauce very easily. We also had the Ole, Buster, and Lola pizzas. The dessert pizza sounded so good too, but we were way too full for that. You are encouraged to BYOB here, but they also have a small selection of taps and wine available as well. The Pizza Farm is definitely worth a stop by!

Such a fun place to go in the summer with family and friends! The pizza is really good. We had the…read moreField of Dreams which was a weekly feature with sweet corn from Iowa that was delicious. We also had the pizza fries which was basically garlic bread but really good. The pizza was large and we had lots of leftovers. So much fun interacting with the animals too!

I went with my wife and toddler to see the tulips here in May. While the farm and flowers…read morethemselves were quite nice, there were several factors that made this a negative experience. The primary one, that I'll write about here, was very poor line management and a huge lack of clarity. They have "Tickets" and "Wristbands" buying a "ticket" makes you eligible for a "wristband, but they are not the same thing. They had a terrible solution. Where you wait in an insanely long line (literally an hour long) to get a "ticket" then you have to go all the way back to another insanely long line to get a "wristband" in order to get in the hayride that takes you to the flowers (they would not allow people to walk). There was not clear signage which lead to a lot of confusion that really slowed things down. What made things worse is that we were there right at opening time, so we completed the idiotic process properly. But about an hour in the staff realized how bad their idea was, and tried to combine the lines which led to a ton of people being able to budge us, which was really unfortunate and frustrating. I certainly would never visit this place again on a weekend. It was such a poor experience. Maybe going during the week when visitation is not at peak could be feasible.

Went back after a few years. It was a lot busier which is to be expected however they can not…read morehandle how many people are going. There are no signs telling you where to get what. We bought tickets online in advance, but there was no sign for online sales. Then once we finally found the right line there's only one iPad so the guy had to walk away to get it to scan our tickets. Once you get out of the main area (we ended up walking because only two trackers were going and the line was super long) it was good. We liked the lower area but the front was a total mess and took way more time than it needed to. Pretty disappointed. Hopefully they can fix the front area before next season. Also, there were SO many bees.

Such a clean, outdoor space to explore with my little kids. Friendly staff and some indoor exhibits…read moreabout farming today. The self-guided walking tour mobile app that auto-plays information kept my kids' attention along the one-mile path. They loved exploring the unique outdoor historic farm buildings, one-room schoolhouse, and visiting the farm animals. Did I mention there's a corn maze all summer and fall? We'll be back!

From the owner: At Farmamerica, we offer engaging, outdoor, hands-on experiences like field trips, farm day camps,…read moreeducational exhibits, historic farm site tours, and special events like goat yoga and Meat-a-palooza. We strive to help people of all ages explore, discover, and connect with the evolving story of agriculture and its impact on their lives.

Fall Harvest Orchard is my family's FAVORITE orchard!…read more We started going to this orchard 5 years ago when I was looking for a nice orchard for the annual outing for the families of the Twin Cities Asian Moms Facebook group. There is a variety of fun activities for kids of different ages and many animals for people to interact with. My two boys LOVE visiting with the baby chicks every year. There are also many great options for photos with friends and family - including a sunflower field. Last but not least, there are many delicious types of apples available for purchase with the option to pick your own. The wristband is a great deal if you would like to take part in several activities - my husband and I both enjoy the Giant slide and the Barn slide. Highly recommend checking out Fall Harvest Orchard for a fun Fall outing!

We've been coming to fall harvest orchard for a few years and it seems to get better each time!…read moreEntrance is free but you can buy wristbands to be able to do more of the activities like the giant slide, large corn pit, mini putt, etc. The wristbands are well worth the price for the little ones in my opinion. They're able to do as many activities as they want and there are SO many to choose from. However, you can have plenty of fun there without the wristband. There is a smaller corn pit, animals to pet and feed, and other free activities to enjoy. There are also plenty of food trucks and spots to grab drinks which makes it ideal to spend a few hours there at least! In addition, they do have some apple trees to pick apples from if that's something you're looking for. It does get VERY busy so I'd recommend heading there pretty early. Looking forward to coming back for many years to come!