How to plan a Queens day trip for fall farm fun near Nassau
Attendees participate in a corn husking contest at the annual Queens Agricultural Fair at the Queens County Farm Museum. Credit: Jeff Kollbrunner / JKNatureGallery
Eastern Long Island tends to be synonymous with the fall festival season, but if you live in Nassau and want to celebrate the harvest closer to home, try a day trip to northeastern Queens. Although the borough is not known for its pastoral landscapes, you can still pack in a cornucopia of fall fun in tightly knit neighborhoods just across the Nassau County line.
HEAD TO QUEENS COUNTY FARM MUSEUM
Situated on farmland founded in 1697, Queens County Farm Museum (73-50 Little Neck Pkwy., Queens; 718-347-3276, queensfarm.org) offers a variety of programs including adult education, volunteer opportunities and free weekend tours of its farmhouse. The 47-acre farm is free to visit and is open daily, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Patrons can meet a variety of farm animals at the Queens County Farm Museum including steer, sheep, goats, alpaca, pigs and hens. Credit: Queens County Farm Museum
Among the museum’s biggest fans are Maribel and Anthony Imparato, who moved a decade ago from Mount Sinai to Douglaston, Queens. "Our city friends just cannot believe that we are so close to this magnificent place," Maribel Imparato says.
Imparato says her family used to buy their autumn veggies on the East End, but nowadays, their fresh eggs, leafy greens, kale and other fall produce come from the museum’s farm stand, which is open 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Wednesdays to Sundays through Nov. 17. Locally made gifts, educational toys and books can be purchased inside the farm’s country store, which also sells $6 tickets for a tractor-pulled hayride through the farm fields.
The farm fields also feature the Amazing Maize Maze, a labyrinth through 3 acres of cornstalks planted with clues and puzzles open Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays, through Oct. 26 ($14, $10 ages 4-11). If you’re looking for a slightly scarier experience, bring along your flashlight to the Maze by Moonlight on Oct. 19 and 26. ($16, $12 ages 4-11)
The annual Queens Agricultural Fair at the Queens County Farm Museum features pie eating and corn husking contests, hayrides, carnival rides, live music and midway games. Credit: Queens County Farm Museum
Among the major fall events here is the 41st Queens Agricultural Fair, which is expected to attract up to 8,000 festivalgoers on Oct. 5-6, says museum spokesperson Hayden Cubas. The fair features old-timey harvest classics including a Ferris wheel, sack races, cornhusking contests, roving jugglers, live music and food vendors. Judges will also award blue ribbons for homemade pickles, garden vegetables and patchwork quilts.
Visitors can stop by the farm’s paddocks to see goats, sheep, steers, alpacas, pigs and hens.
Visitors can go pumpkin picking once autumn arrives at Queens County Farm Museum. Credit: Queens County Farm Museum
Get into the Halloween spirit by picking out a jack-o’-lantern at the farm’s pumpkin patch from Oct. 1-31 or come in costume to dance the day away and go trick-or-treating at nine candy stations at Halloween on the Farm, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Oct. 27 ($20). The seasonal theme continues with a Harvest Dance Celebration on Nov. 3, celebrating American Indian culture through music and dance.
SEE FALL FOLIAGE AT A NEARBY PARK
Alley Pond Park in Queens features hiking and biking trails plus playgrounds, sports fields and fishing. The park also offers occasional educational tours and sessions. Credit: Daniel Avila
Continue your Queens harvest tour with an eight-minute drive to 600-plus acre Alley Pond Park (located from Little Neck Bay to Springfield Boulevard and Union Turnpike, nycgovparks.org), where you can spend the rest of your day playing outdoors amid thousands of trees. There are facilities for grilling and for sports like basketball, soccer and pickleball on four new courts. Visitors can also go hiking and biking on a multiuse path.
Animals from Brooklyn's Green Meadows Farm visit the park on Saturdays and Sundays from Oct. 5-31, notes Patty Rassiga, the farm’s office manager. Join hands-on experiences with the sheep, goats, pigs, calves, llamas and alpacas on those select dates. "Families can visit the farm animals, take a hayride and pick up a Halloween pumpkin," Rassiga says. (718-470-0224, greenmeadowsfarmbrooklyn.com)
Oakland Lake is located in Alley Pond Park. Bass, pickerel and sunfish can be found in the natural lake. Credit: Daniel Avila
Fall foliage can also be enjoyed during a walk around Oakland Lake located in Alley Pond Park, says Matt Symons, deputy chief of operations for Queens, New York City Department of Parks and Recreation. "At peak season, it's quite beautiful, especially if you get a reflection of the foliage off the lake," Symons says. Freshwater fishing is permitted on the scenic lake. (NYS fishing license required for anglers over age 16.)
GRAB A FESTIVE TREAT
Pumpkin is also in season at Martha’s Country Bakery (41-06 Bell Blvd., Bayside; 718-225-5200, marthascountrybakery.com), a 12-minute drive from Queens County Farm Museum. Martha’s, which has been in business for more than 50 years, is a friendly way station for autumn commuters who can be found sipping a red-velvet hot chocolate while they wait for their train, says bakery manager Irene Zannikos. In autumn, the bakery interior is decorated with sunflowers. Seasonal drinks include pumpkin lattes and apple cider in late October. Bakery treats range from pumpkin muffins and pie to a New York cheesecake with pumpkin flavor. "It’s decorated on the top with the orange and red colors of fall," Zannikos says.
