Community Voices for Health

By: Rachel Ventura

With promises from the weather man for a humid, 85 degree mid-May day, my little clan and I were ready for our first beach adventure of the year. We packed our bags the night before and had our swimsuits set out and ready to go. My daughter was beyond excited to wear her new Rapunzel bathing suit. Imagine our disappointment when we woke up to a very cloudy and very chilly day. Turns out, there was zero sun all day and the high was 65. Man, were those weather men wrong this time! Although I much prefer clouds and cooler temperatures, my family was bummed. I wasn’t going to let it completely ruin our day, though; there was still fun to be had!

We packed a picnic lunch and decided we’d head to Wards Berry Farm in Sharon. We’ve been there a few times before but we never fully took it all in until this trip. I was pleasantly surprised! This place is truly a little gem. It’s only about 15 minutes from our house and it was such an adventure. My daughter could have stayed all day, and we will definitely become frequent visitors!

We got there at lunch time and were hungry, so we headed straight to the picnic tables. The kids squealed in delight while eating their lunch as birds hopped all around us, hoping to catch a stray crumb or two, and the tractors passed by to do their work.

After we ate and cleaned up our mess, we headed straight to the playground, per my daughter’s request. It’s not the largest playground, but it is more than sufficient. And both of my children very much enjoyed themselves. My daughter especially loved the huge slide.  She wanted her brother to go down the slide on her lap, but she’ll have to wait for that for another year or two. In addition to the slide, there are normal swings, rocking horse swings, monkey bars, tires, and a sort of bouncy/see-saw contraption, which was a big hit.

They also have a sandbox, which is so much fun!! It is very large with many trucks and toys to play with. The sandbox is outlined by tree trucks of varying heights that my daughter had a blast climbing on.

After that we went to check out the animals. We saw chicks and chickens, sheep, goats, horses, and bunnies. My son was amazed by all the animals and just stood and stared. At one point, all the sheep, in anticipation of their upcoming lunch, all came over to the edge of the fence where we were standing. There had to be at least 15 of them and they all started baaing at the same time. It was very loud and my poor son started screaming! He was scared but it was actually pretty cool to hear and see. His sister, of course, thought it was hilarious!

Did I mention that all of this was free of charge? Naturally, there are things to spend your money on. They have a beautiful assortment of flowers, plants, vegetables and fruits in the farm store, as well as a bakery, sandwich counter and smoothie bar! They also have “Pick Your Own” strawberries, blueberries and pumpkins during their respective seasons. We can’t wait to go back and pick some strawberries next month. In the fall they have a huge cornfield maze, as well as hayrides.

We did purchase a cup of chocolate ice cream, a perfect way to end our little adventure. Total cost for our trip to Wards Berry Farm: $3. Two and a half hours of pure fun and joy with my children: priceless.