FALL IS A FEELING, sure, one that you can revisit regardless of the date on the calendar in myriad ways. This might require you throwing a few apple slices in some water, on the stove, at a low simmer, or maybe finding a piece of pumpkin pie at your local diner. These are homey, happy pursuits, if you're an avowed autumn aficionado, but they lack a public, among-people element that gives the season some of its communal sweetness. That's a sweetness that's found at fall festivals, and pumpkin patches, and petting zoos, and the other family-fun happenings that spring up, like so many pumpkin vines, around September and October. But keep sipping that cider, and placing potpourri around the house, and thinking autumnal thoughts, for Underwood Family Farms in Moorpark just revealed the dates for its always bustling...
FALL HARVEST FESTIVAL: You guessed it, this is the month-long happening — a happening that stretches beyond the October weekends into the weekdays, too — that incorporates several nostalgic elements, from riding around in a tractor-pulled wagon to petting a goat to searching for the most spectacular squash in a field of orange gold. Opening day in 2017 is Sept. 30, the final date is Tuesday, Oct. 31, and, as is delightful tradition, each weekend will boast a theme, from Friends of the Farm Weekend (that's weekend #1) to Antique Tractor Weekend on Oct. 14 and 15. Pig races and other furry cutenesses are part of the Fall Harvest Festival, as is music and eats. No fretting: Roasted corn is on the menu, because a fall fair without one of its culinary mainstays just wouldn't do. To get excited, grab a cup of cider now and pore over the September's-comin' schedule now. Tickets online? Check back again after September 1, for specific dates.
