Hidden Creek Farms Fall Fest underway

By LENNY C. LEPOLA

News Assis­tant Man­ag­ing Editor

Hid­den Creek Farms is not really hid­den away. It’s at 581 South Galena Road, about halfway between Ohio 37 and Five Points. But Hid­den Creek Farms co-owners Nor­man and Mary Williamson will tell you that many long-time local res­i­dents will stop at the farm mar­ket for the first time and say they never knew it was there.

But Hid­den Creek Farms is not only there; it has been there since 1997 when Nor­man and Mary opened the farm mar­ket with their son David, and their son-in-law Joey Jerome. Nor­man and Mary man­age the retail oper­a­tion, while David and Joey are more involved in the whole­sal­ing end of the operation.

The 45-acre farm pro­duces toma­toes, sweet corn, green beans, cab­bage, egg­plant, cau­li­flower, broc­coli, pep­pers and cook­ing herbs — not quite organic but there’s very lit­tle pes­ti­cide use. The farm also pro­duces and sells meat chick­ens and eggs, and raises Thanks­giv­ing turkeys, but you have to call now to reserve one. Eleven turkeys are left this year, and they are reserved on a first-come first-served basis.

The Williamson’s have also been sup­port­ers of Big Wal­nut Friends Who Share.

“On Wednes­days we have been tak­ing our excess eggs and pro­duce to sup­port their food bank,” Mary said. “We have donated dozens of eggs, and most recently we have donated a large quan­tity of veg­eta­bles — includ­ing toma­toes, cab­bage, zuc­chini and cucumbers.”

Hid­den Creek Farms also holds an Annual Fall Fes­ti­val that began last Sat­ur­day, and is held from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. every Sat­ur­day and Sun­day through Octo­ber 28.

Admis­sion is $6 per per­son at the gate (chil­dren 2 and under are admit­ted for free) and includes a hayride to the farm’s pump­kin patch, a pump­kin slide, a lit­tle kids play barn with corn pit and slide, a farm ani­mal pet­ting zoo, a straw maze, and games. Chil­dren can even win a pump­kin by tak­ing a shot with a corn cannon.

Fall Fes­ti­val food offer­ings include fresh home­made pies, Yum-ee Donuts, apples, caramel apples, hot and cold apple cider, hot choco­late, and cof­fee and cold drinks.

A food ven­dor, Smokin’ Pig BBQ, will also be on hand to pro­vide ribs, chicken, pulled pork, hot dogs, soups and baked sweet potatoes.

Mary said the Hid­den Creek Farms Fall Fes­ti­val has no scary activ­i­ties; that it’s very family-oriented.

“All of our activ­i­ties are geared for chil­dren in Kinder­garten through age 12,” Mary said. “The Play Barn is set up for lit­tle kids three and four years old. It’s great for day­care cen­ter trips, and special-needs chil­dren are always welcome.”

While you’re there you can do some fall dec­o­rat­ing projects using pump­kins, gourds, Indian corn, corn shocks, straw bales and mums; and also pur­chase honey, apple cider, pro­duce raised by Hid­den Creek Farms and other local farm­ers, Troyer’s meats and cheeses, and Amish jar goods and noodles.

Into can­ning? No prob­lem. Hid­den Creek Farms sells pro­duce in large quan­ti­ties for home canning.

Mon­day through Fri­day school tours can be booked by call­ing ahead; tours begin at 9 a.m. and include hayrides.

“We get lots of school groups for the hayrides,” Mary said. “By call­ing ahead schools, day­cares, and other groups can sched­ule an ideal time for them to stop by; and we also have spe­cial rates for groups of 50 or more.

“A typ­i­cal school visit to our farm lasts an hour to an hour and a half,” Mary con­tin­ued. “Our pic­nic area is avail­able for those who would like to bring snacks or a sack lunch and extend their visit at our farm while enjoy­ing the great fall weather; and we can arrange vis­its to suit most school’s sched­ules and edu­ca­tional requirements.”

For addi­tional infor­ma­tion about Hid­den Creek Farms, the Hid­den Creek Farms Fall Fes­ti­val, or Hid­den Creek Farms School Tours log on to < hiddencreekfarms.com >, or call 740–815-9371, or email < hiddencreekfarms@hotmail.com >.

Hid­den Creek Farms Farm Mar­ket is open every year from July 1 through Octo­ber 31. The Farm Market’s fall hours are 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., Mon­day through Friday.

Posted by Gary Henery on Sep 26 2012. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS Feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.