by Frank Lee
operations@thenewsleaders.com
One could not have picked a better fall day to go pumpkin-picking, which is why many made the trip to Collegeville Orchards in St. Joseph with about a week left before Halloween.
Kim Gerads of Sartell heard about the child-friendly event through word of mouth and brought her two children – Owen, 4, and Ava, 7 – to the orchards Oct. 16.
“They insist on pulling the wagons themselves. That’s a big fun part of it,” she said of her son and daughter, who hauled pumpkins they picked from the orchards’ pumpkin patch on wagons.
Besides Minnesota-grown apples, Collegeville Orchards in St. Joseph sells pumpkins, squash, gourds, grapes and a wide variety of garden produce.
But it was also the petting zoo, wagon rides and more that also attracted people to the event, which takes place every weekend in October from noon-4 p.m. at 15517 Fruit Farm Road.
“They liked it a lot, especially with stuff to climb on over there,” said Gerads, as she pointed to the popular hay bales that many used as props in their photography or to take “selfies.”
“We were just out pumpkin-patch-searching,” said Brittany Stang, a St. Augusta resident who was at Collegeville Orchards for the first time during the colorful fall day.
She had a photograph taken of her and her sister from St. Cloud, McKinzie, who pretended to be a scarecrow by peering through a cut-out that just showed her head with a scarecrow’s body.
“I haven’t yet found the perfect pumpkin,” McKinzie Stang said with some dismay in her voice. “We will probably carve it but leave making the pumpkin pies to my grandma.”
But Janet Delre of St. Cloud came to the orchards with her 11-year-old daughter, Ashlee, who attends St. John’s Prep School in St. Joseph, because of the “beautiful fall colors.”
“We did a wagon ride, we bought some apples and some mittens,” Delre said as she took a selfie with her daughter while they stood in the orchards’ pick-your-own-pumpkin patch.
Collegeville Orchards sells its own honey, local maple syrup, jams or jellies, mixes and fall decorations, according to the St. Joseph-based retailer’s website.
“Fall is my favorite season because of the colors, and the colors are just incredible – like over there,” said Delre, who gestured to the trees surrounding the orchards.
Lydia Erickson of Annandale works at St. Cloud Hospital and was on call on Oct. 16. She decided to swing by the nearby orchards with her mother, her niece and nephew.
“We’ve seen a lot of the animals, and the little kids loved that,” Erickson said. “They liked to feed them. We have been into the animals for the most part.”
The petting zoo was free to orchards’ guests and is open the same hours as the store. Feed is available for the public, for a quarter, to feed the goats, sheep and alpacas in the petting zoo.
Other animals in the petting zoo at Collegeville Orchards include a miniature horse and donkey, rabbits and chicks and ducklings when available, according to the orchards’ website.
Maddie Larson of Dassel also works at St. Cloud Hospital, and she went to the orchards for the same reasons as Erickson. It was, for Larson, also her first at Collegeville Orchards.
“We just kind of like the fall and the colors and being outside and that sort of thing,” Larson said. “St. Joseph is nice, it’s beautiful . . . And the trees are right at their peak right now.”
Owen Gerads, 4, and his 7-year-old sister, Ava, pull wagons loaded with pumpkins as their mother, Kim Gerads of Sartell, leads the way to the cashier Oct. 16 at the children-friendly St. Joseph event at Collegeville Orchards, which features a pick-your-own pumpkin patch.
Brittany Stang of St. Augusta crouches and peers through a flower cut-out while her sister, McKinzie of St. Cloud, pretends to be a scarecrow as an acquaintance takes their photo near the petting zoo Oct. 16 at Collegeville Orchards in St. Joseph.
Janet Delre of St. Cloud takes a selfie with her 11-year-old daughter Ashlee, who attends St. John’s Preparatory School in St. Joseph, while they stand in the middle of Collegeville Orchards’ pick-your-own pumpkin patch Oct. 16 in St. Joseph.
Lydia Erickson of Annandale holds onto Goose’s leash while Maddie Larson of Dassel checks her phone Oct. 16 while looking for the perfect pumpkins to purchase at Collegeville Orchards in St. Joseph.
