I have to start this post off first by saying ‘Happy First Day of Autumn!’

Now, I’m going to tell you about our new addition to our orchard: Tom the Tour Guide. I met Tom two summers ago at Apple Bash through a good college friend, Noah. I enjoyed hanging out with him and was happy to see him again this past summer at a different summer party. After chatting a little I discovered that he is currently attending Grad School at UW-Madison and didn’t really have any jobs lined up during the school year…oh, and he used to be a fourth grade teacher…

This was interesting news to me since we had recently found out that the person we planned on being our tour guide found a full time job (instead of one that lasts 2 weeks) and that our other person in mind decided to start an in-home day care (also something more permanent than 2 weeks…hard to blame them). I gave Tom a call and soon we made a deal and we had a tour guide!

Tom came to observe the first tour of the season. From that, he came up with a lot of ideas on his own to make it even more fun than before. I haven’t heard anything but compliments from the people that have participated in the tours. Depending on his schedule you may notice Tom hanging out at our farm on the weekends. If you do, don’t be afraid to ask him about what there is to do, some background on the orchard, the story behind why the raspberries are red, or even for a quick spontaneous tour. He’ll be there to help make your trip to the orchard even more fun! I also had to share a few pictures of what the orchard looks like when a bus breaks done and strands almost 100 1st graders at the orchard for an extra 45 minutes! I think they at least had a good time… If you are interested in lining up a tour yet this year, give me a call ASAP! We have a few openings next week, but that is our last week of tours for the year. Otherwise, put us on the calendar to call early next season (late August, early September) for a school group tour at the NEW location!

On Saturday, March 7th, we decided to attend the Wollersheim Winery Open House. Frank and Diane had attended in 2008 and really enjoyed it and thought we might too. So we all loaded into Frank and Diane's new minivan (only one small mud puddle incident and a change of pants on the way into the van) and headed over to Prairie du Sac, WI.

Self-guided Winery Tours went on throughout the entire day along with other classes and talks: Grapevine Pruning Demo, Cooking with Wine Demo and Winemaker Phillippe's Talk. We timed our visit so we could do the self-guided tour first and then sit in on the Grapevine Pruning Demo.



Of course, my favorite part about the Self-guided wine tour was that we were able to have samples of wine all along the way. Our first sample was the Prairie Fume.


Of course, it couldn't have been a beautiful day for this...that would be too easy. It was dreary with a fairly steady sprinkling rain. We had to walk between buildings at times during the tour. Diane would race ahead of us since she had Capri in the umbrella stroller. Above is a picture of some of the grape vines!
Another taste test - yum! This time our sample was of the White Riesling. I would give you my opinions on the wine but I am by no means a connoisseur and I honestly don't remember which one was my favorite...I just know I was having free wine!

We are officially in the midst of our group weeks! Diane gave THREE tours yesterday! We've had wonderful kids and have been enjoying ourselves. Today we have one at 9:00 and tomorrow we have a BIG one at 9:00...so big, I have to give the orchard tour...hopefully my allergies hold off and I don't walk the kids through the little picker things. As usual, I would say the favorite part of the tour for the kids are visiting with our animals...not the orchard tour or the cider making (although they are enjoyable as well). Group leaders seem to have been happy about how the tours go as well.

If you are reading this and want to know more about our tours feel free to give us a call. We are no longer scheduling any more for this season, but contact us next year at the end of August/beginning of September to schedule your school/group. (We typically schedule the last two weeks of September...maybe into October...we need to still have apples on our trees so time is a little limited...)

From Blog

Well, we have really started to get into our tour group season! We had two tours go through this morning. Diane leads the tours but it seemed like everyone was enjoying it. We have a rather large group coming at 9 tomorrow morning so I have to lead the orchard portion of the tour. I don't mind doing it since I love talking but I'm much better at the one-on-one stuff :)

Diane also put up a really neat corn shock tunnel for the kids to play in. She added some fun things to it like broom corn and huge sunflowers. I think it turned out very well. Frank and Diane have also been picking pumpkins, gourds and squash whenever they have a minute. It's really starting to look like fall around the orchard! Frank picked up a bunch of beautiful mums again at the auction this week. Stop by and decorate your garden/yard!

After we got the girls to bed, Jared and I made another batch of caramel apples...we're really starting to get the hang of things!