In early autumn, a little ways before Halloween, Jen and I stopped to visit Tonnemaker Orchards’ farm stand here in Woodinville. I have been driving past it every day for a few years now, and I can’t believe I’ve never stopped in before!
We walked up to discover boxes and boxes of scrumptious looking apples, several with varieties I haven’t seen in major grocery stores. I’m from Wenatchee so I thought I knew a lot about apple varieties, but discovered several new things here!
They also had fresh corn and gorgeous tomatoes for sale.
Here are their 20th Century Asian pears.
We started thinking of all the delicious things we could cook up for our families with these freshly harvested greens.
Beautiful pumpkins and squashes for sale – we were starting to get into the Halloween spirit!
After a friendly chat with Nathan at the farm stand, we were invited to take a special tour of the nearby farm. We were delighted, and didn’t mind that we hadn’t brought proper shoes for the occasion.
A very friendly and knowledgeable farm worker, Molly, took time out of her shift to kindly show us around the farm and answer some questions. We started off in this corn field.
The sunflowers were in full bloom.
Jen couldn’t resist taking several photos of the magnificent sunflower field.
Cheerful sunflower faces raised themselves to greet the morning sun.
Bees feasted on the sunflowers and thankfully didn’t sting us!
As we headed out further into the fields and into Tonnemaker’s big pumpkin patch, we celebrated our creative jobs that let us explore a beautiful farm like this on a crisp autumn workday!
We stopped to admire this darling pumpkin arrangement in the patch.
Snap peas tempted us – my nephews love these! I made a mental note to buy some at the farm stand before we left.
The pumpkin patch and sunflowers are nestled up against the picturesque and useful greenhouse.
The pumpkin patch is U-pick farm until October 31.
Molly showed us their pickling cucumber varieties. I really need to set aside a Sunday afternoon to put up some pickles this autumn!
Molly explained about harvest and which beds need plastic and which don’t. We admired her passion for locally grown vegetables and her commitment to the concept!
Many people can only dream of having a greenhouse like this one! It wouldn’t fit in my backyard, alas.
Exploring the fields further, we detoured past these magnificent red sunflowers.
Here are some giant squash waiting to be harvested.
Their cabbage was lush and large.
This is what kale looks like when it’s growing. I was surprised by those large stalks!
Molly continued our tour through the veggie bed. I can only imagine how much work the upcoming harvest will be!
The picturesque flower bed supplies cut flowers and bouquets.
We learned a bit about other cabbage varieties, then headed back to the farm stand to purchase apples, fresh veggies, and delicious organic eggs.
The farm stand had plenty of pumpkins ready for Halloween.
We encourage you to stop by Tonnemaker’s Woodinville Farm Stand to buy veggies grown locally and fruits grown in their Royal City, Washington orchards. Say hi to Nathan, and enjoy the bounty of fresh foods offered here. You can check out their Woodinville 2017 harvest calendar in PDF form here.
The farm stand is located at 16215 140th Place NE, Woodinville, WA 98072.
-Carrie
RESOURCES:
Tonnemaker Family Orchard and Tonnemaker Hill Farm on Facebook
