It Wasn't New Hampshire, But...

...we still had fun!

Several years ago, my husband and I went up to New Hampshire for a few days to visit our son, who was stationed there while the submarine he was serving on was in drydock.

We were looking for things to do and came across a fall/harvest/apple/farm festival and it was great -- TONS of local handcrafts and fruits and vegetables and products made therefrom. We brought home syrup and honey and apples and I actually got a lot of satisfaction knowing that all that good stuff actually came from the farm, or at least nearby.

On Saturday, we hoped to recreate the experience at a New Jersey farm festival. Now New Jersey may not have New England's reputation for glorious fall foliage, but it is the historic Garden State after all and should be able to muster a decent harvest event or two.

I went on my very first hayride to pick pumpkins (although the pumpkins were exceedingly pricey so we got some gourds instead. More on that another day.). And we all enjoyed seeing and/or petting donkeys, horses, cows, goats, sheep, emus, chickens, alpacas and zonkeys (!).

But it was just a little disappointing when the "handcrafts" were scarecrows and wooden plaques Made in China. The apple pies and doughnuts were packaged and labeled as if they came from a grocery store. And there weren't any apples.

I did pick up a couple of jars of pumpkin butter and strawberry/rhubarb preserves.

They're from Maryland.