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It’s getting close to Halloween, and for trick or treaters (and adults), Eagle Acres is a spectacular treat for spooky season. Make the trip out to the farm and you’ll find an inviting family pumpkin patch, and cute farm animals like sheep and goats who just love getting a little attention and are looking to be pet. Eagle Acres’ Erin Anderson, the main family farmhand, talked to us about sustainable farming and adding fall fun to the fields with a pumpkin patch. By Avneet Takhar It’s a family affair at Eagle Acres. Could you tell us more about the farm and its history? Brian (my partner) and I started our farm nearly 25 years ago. We were a small dairy farm with the goal to educate children about where their milk comes from. We quickly learned that we needed to educate people of all ages—not just the youth. The internet…

When it comes to outdoor activities to get you into the spirit of the changing seasons, it doesn’t get much more autumnal than than pumpkin patches and corn mazes. by Catherine Dunwoody Fall is most definitely here, and getting lost in a zigzagging corn maze or choosing which big orange beauty to take with you from a pumpkin patch is part of the fun when it comes to living in or visiting Metro Vancouver, especially in Surrey. The city boasts 3 different mazes and patches, each unique and fun for the entire family. The Hazelmere Pumpkin Patch The Hazelmere Pumpkin Patch (aka Gabriel Farms)  is open throughout October and offers all the autumn fun you can handle. Open on weekends starting September 23, 10 am to 5 pm, you can partake in a petting zoo, wagon rides, a mini corn maze, face painting, and a concession. U-pick pumpkins in many…

Photos by Michele Mateus Autumn harvest season is marked by celebrations around the world for a season of sharing with friends, family, and the community. Dig into abundance at one of the many Fraser Valley farms where your family can pick your own pumpkins out of a vast field, gather a bushel of crisp apples right from the trees, and take home a feast of local foods for around your own table. Fraser Valley Farms with Autumn Markets Krause Berry Farms 6179 248th Street Langley, BC 604.856.5757 www.krauseberryfarms.com Dave’s Orchard 5910 – 216 Street Langley, BC 604.532.5265 www.bcfarmfresh.com/farms/daves-orchard Aldor Acres Family Farm 24990 – 84th Ave. Langley, BC aldoracresfamilyfarm.ca Maan Farms 790 McKenzie Road Abbotsford, BC 604.864.5723 www.maanfarms.com Taves Family Farm 333 Gladwin Rd Abbotsford, BC 604.853.3108 www.tavesfamilyfarms.com Willow View Farms 288 McCallum Road Abbotsford, BC 604.854.8710 www.willowviewfarms.com Fantasy Farms Inc. 9423 Gibson Rd Chilliwack, BC www.fantasyfarmsinc.ca Words by…

Heading out to the pumpkin patch to pick the perfect future Jack O’ Lantern is one of those special traditions that kids of all ages look forward to. From getting your hands dirty on the field, with pumpkin muck, and finally with salt from roasted seeds, it feels thoroughly of autumn. When taking a trip out to a local farm to pick out your family’s pumpkins here are some helpful tips: Don’t pick your pumpkins too early in the season. If you pick them too soon they will be piles of mush long before you can take a knife to them or they will just be too soft to carve. Try to head to the pumpkin patch during “non-peak” times like mid-afternoon during the week to avoid crowds if you can. Don’t always go for the perfectly round. Sometimes the flawed, lopsided or puckered pumpkins make for carved faces with the…

By Catherine Dunwoody Hop in your vehicles for a lazy, autumn drive through Langley in BC’s Fraser Valley to discover the prettiest pumpkin patches and most amazing mazes – of corn that is. The fall season in all its colourful glory makes for a lovely road trip, so load up the car with the family and make a day of it. Your first stop, near the Canadian border, is the city of Langley, where you’ll want to pull over to visit Eagle Acres. For the past 20 years this family-owned farm has grown to a whopping 20 acres of pumpkin patches growing 15 varieties, and 5 acres of animal displays in the barns and outside in pens – ideal for inquisitive city kids. The Pumpkin Patch is open daily from October 1 – 31, with covered hayrides out to the pumpkin patch to find that perfect Halloween jack-o-lantern, and included…

Photos by Michele Mateus Words by Alexis Baran Goodbye summer heat, hello crisp morning air, vibrant sunsets, giant sweaters, hot apple ciders, and pumpkin spiced everything. Leave the long city shadows for a day and to head where the waning sun lights up expansive golden corn fields. Many of the kind farmers in the Fraser Valley will let you and your family run gleefully through their crop labyrinths – and they also have hot drinks (or cold craft beer depending on where you go), giant trampolines, and many things to climb, drive, and ride. If you are so inclined, they’ll even let you and/or your kids shoot produce out of cannons (yes, there are pumpkin cannons). (A full list of Fraser Valley corn mazes after the photo essay.) Maan Farms Open: August – October Activities: Daytime corn maze, flashlight corn maze (select October dates), haunted corn maze (select October dates),…

By Alexis Baran In BC, over 15 varieties of apples are harvested each year by the bushel; and you can pick 5 of them right from the trees yourself at Taves Family Farms in Abbotsford. More than just an apple farm, the Taves have turned the land into a seasonal playground and each year they invite families from the west coast and beyond to enjoy their corn maze, tractor trail, bee hive demonstrations, pony rides, and other activities. It all started with an immigrant farmer who came to Canada after his land was seized in his home country during World War II. In the 1930s, during the Great Depression, John Taves, an immigrant from Ukraine, purchased a plot of logged land that was little more than grass and stumps in Abbotsford BC. John’s grandson, Loren, recalls helping his family clear the land as a child: “I remember as a 5-year-old…