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This weekend, my family, our bonus kiddo (one of our kiddo’s best friends) and my parents decided to pay a visit to Simonian Farms in Sunnyside to check out their Pumpkin Patch. This was the first time we’d all been, and we had a really fun time exploring all there was to see and do there.
When you first arrive at Simonian Farms (located on Clovis Avenue on the SE corner of Clovis and Jensen) you’re drawn into their giant red barn. Inside, everything is decorated like the old west, complete with saloon (wine tasting area), shooting gallery (with great animitronic targets) soda shop and ice cream bar and even a barber shop (non-functioning). There’s a lot to see, and this area is kept cool and comfortable thanks to the biggest fan I’ve ever seen (signage indicated it was provided by “Big A** Fans” which is appropriate! ha!). In the barn you can wine taste, enjoy Fresno State Ice Cream, challenge your friends and family to a shoot out, shop for gift items and try on cowboy hats. We also enjoyed a sample of some of the best barbecue sauce I’ve tasted, Pa Paw’s Killer Barbecue Sauce (do yourself a favor – click their name to see where to buy this stuff and go out and get some this week. You’ll be really glad you did. I liked the spicy one myself, but the other one has a great honey flavor to it, and would be fantastic for everyone including kids.)
Wine tasting area located inside the barn
The shooting gallery ($2 for 18 shots of 1 minute of unlimited shots)
The awesome animitronic shooting gallery targets
Hundreds of old-fashioned sodas to choose from
Beyond the barn is the Market, boasted an amazing selection of local fruits and vegetables, homemade jellies and spreads, wine, candies and snacks (we left with dried honey-coated pineapple, sour cherry balls, bridge mix, giant gum drops and chocolate covered cinnamon bears). The entire market is adorned with vintage bicycles and pedal cars, and you can even buy old fruit crate labels to decorate your home with, if you like the vintage look. (I want to go back for these soon!)
More jams, jellies, sauces and spreads than you could eat in several years
Delicious, local fruit and veggies
Back outside, if you proceed past the market, you’ll see the gold panning area (sand filled with fun stones and gold flakes can be purchased in the Barn) and then the Pumpkin Patch.
Gold panning
The patch is free to enter and all attractions are free, you just pay for your pumpkins. In the patch you’ll find tons of pumpkins varying in size from mini to gigantic, an awesome old train car that’s been turned into a haunted train car (fun!) and a mini-hay maze. There are several great hay stack areas set up as photo-op spots and painted cut outs, too.
The caboose at Simonian Farms
My mom survived the Haunted Caboose! (Just barely.)
Just hanging ’round the saloon
Simonian Farms is a great place to spend a fall day with your family, while supporting local farmers. Check it out any day of the week between 9am and 6pm. Have fun!