random thoughts – Day 2,391 (Saturday 10/3) – at the farm

Beautiful day at Hollis Hills Farm.

The day was another gift of a warm temperature, sunshine, and a blue sky, which was perfect for the day’s plans. The first stop was in Ashburnham to visit with friends who had a table at the art center for the citywide yard sale. 

After a while, I headed to Fitchburg on a gorgeous ride along winding country roads flanked by the changing foliage. The destination was a meetup with my sister at Hollis Hills Farm to sit outside, enjoy the weather, and hear the musician who is an acquaintance of hers.

When I arrived, several parking areas were full or nearly full. The picnic area still had plenty of tables available, but over the couple hours we were there, it filled up and lines grew for food and drinks outside and ice cream inside the barn. Mostly country music wafted in the air and I, not a country fan, knew a couple of the songs the singer performed, especially when it was old school Johnny Cash. I knew more songs when it was the recorded music on the singer's break (White Stripes!).

Pumpkins outside the barn shop.

Families chatted, babies occasionally cried, and kids chased chickens. The singer offered up $5 to any kid who caught a chicken and the younglings got busy trying. Meanwhile, I was trying to offer the chickens refuge under our table and cheering on the ones who found safety under a food truck. One highly motivated boy pulled it off, caught a chicken, collected his pay, and then declared to his family he should get a job as a chicken catcher.

Hollis Hills has flowers and fruit for picking if you like to do the farm labor yourself and displayed in bins if you prefer to be a consumer. There is honey, locally raised meat, ice cream, and honey in the large barn shop. Outside has plentiful outdoor seating, the chickens running freely, penned goats for hand feeding, and a big green tractor popular for climbing up and sitting on. The musician was set up on a trailer with a beautiful backdrop of rolling hills and local mountains.

Apple cider slushie - yum!

The Farm's kitchen menu is impressively full and varied, with hummus, burgers, wraps, mac and cheese, poutines, pulled pork, chicken, and more. We had both already eaten so we stuck with cold beverages. 

Apple Cider Slushies beat out water as our beverages of choice. Thick and frosty with a rich apple flavor, it is possibly my new favorite chilled drink. I may need to return to Hollis Hills soon for another one. And maybe some cider donuts as long as I'm out there.