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Alison Stewart: This is All Of It on WNYC. I'm Alison Stewart. Happy fall, y'all. The autumnal equinox arrives today which means summer's officially over and as the host of SNL's Bronx Beat would say--

Speaker: You know what, at least the weather's turned. Sweater weather. Oh God. Finally, sweater weather. About time. It's about time. Sweater weather. Finally, sweater weather.

Alison Stewart: With the arrival of changing leaves and cider donuts, there is a slate of fall fun to be had. Joining us now as our guides to fall activities is Jennifer Tripucka, the founder and editor-in-chief of both the Montclair Girl and the Hoboken Girl. Jennifer, welcome.

Jennifer Tripucka: Hi. Thank you so much for having me.

Alison Stewart: Joining us today is Westchester Family Magazine digital editor, Serena Norr. Hi, Serena.

Serena Norr: Hi. Thank you for having me.

Alison Stewart: All right, everybody Let's get into it team All Of It. What kinds of activities do you like to participate throughout the fall? How do you celebrate the changing seasons? Are there certain things you like to do with your family, street fairs, fall festivals? Which ones are your favorite? Let's crowdsource this so everyone can have some fun this fall. 212-433-9692, 212-433-WNYC.

We want to hear about your fall favorites or let us know via social media @allofitwnyc, that's both our Twitter and Instagram. We are doing a call out for fun fall activities. What do you like? How do you celebrate the changing of the seasons? Personally fall's my favorite season. If fall's your favorite, give us a call. 212-433-9692, 212-433-WNYC. This question is for both of you. Jennifer, I'll start with you. I think everyone has a moment or something about fall when you know it's fall that it really signifies it for you. That falls has arrived. Jennifer, what's it? What begins fall for you?

Jennifer Tripucka: There are so many things that are amazing about fall, but I think it's that first step outside when you're wearing your summer clothes potentially still and you realize wait, I need a sweatshirt. This is the best feeling and there's just so much fresh and newness in the air. It's back to school. It's a really just beautiful time of year.

Alison Stewart: Serena, how about for you? When do you know fall starts?

Serena Norr: It's that cozy season where you feel like it's time to go apple picking and go pumpkin picking and get apple cider donuts. It's feeling that feeling of going inward a little bit more, but also enjoying these classic fall moments. Definitely like the back-to-school but also a little bit more reflective, a little bit more of a slowing down pace.

Alison Stewart: It's when I see a cider donut. I know it is game on for fall when I see a cider donut. Jennifer, there are certain festivals or events that happen every fall that happen in certain neighborhoods. For example in Brooklyn there's the Atlantic Antic for almost 50 years, that always happens in October. Are there any specific events in Northern New Jersey that happen every year that really are a staple of fall?

Jennifer Tripucka: There are so many festivals. It would probably take us the whole segment to even touch the tip of this, but there are a few that I just think are such fun ones. There's the Chatsworth Cranberry Festival which is a fall cranberry harvest October 15th and 16th. That is just a beautiful event obviously celebrating a really unique fall fruit and it's just a beautiful time.

There's also Donaldson Farms Fall Harvest Weekend in Hackettstown that happens annually and there's pumpkin and apple picking throughout the season there, but they have a specific festival. The Holland Ridge Fall Flower Festival if you've heard of the Holland Ridge where it's tulips throughout the summer season and spring season. It's actually something that they do in the fall which is a really fun one as well to have a beautiful fall flower fest.

Alison Stewart: I don't usually think about fall and flowers. That's really interesting. Calls are coming in already. Let's talk to Brittany calling in from Middlesex County in New Jersey. Hi, Brittany. Thanks for calling All Of It.

Brittany: Hello. Thanks for having me.

Alison Stewart: What's on your fall calendar so far?

Brittany: I like going horseback riding in the fall and looking at all the pretty colors on the leaves. I go to Legacy Riding Stables. They're in Sayreville, New Jersey and they ride five days a week.

Alison Stewart: When did you get into riding?

Brittany: I started riding when I was 10 at a local barn and I will do it forever. It's awesome. You get outside, you get the fresh air, you get to go through the woods and experience nature. It's a lot of fun.

Alison Stewart: Thanks for calling in Brittany. We'd love to hear from you. What activities do you like to participate throughout the fall? How do you celebrate the changing of the seasons or are there certain things you do with your family, maybe the way you decorate your homes, special street fairs you look forward to? We are crowdsourcing our calendar for the fall.

Give us a call. 212-433-9692, 212-433-WNYC or you can hit us up on social media @allofitwnyc. Serena, let me come to you. Apple picking is so popular. What are some apple themed activities in the Westchester area?

Serena Norr: It's a whole experience. When you come up for the weekend, you are there for the whole day. Harvest Moon Farm and Orchard, they have a ton of events going on. They have live music. They have events for kids as well. You can go apple picking and spend the day on the farm. Stuart's Fir Farm over in Granite Springs, they also have a lot going on with live music and events for the kids.

Wilkens Fruit & Fir Farm is your place to get those apple cider donuts. They bake them daily and they're warm and hot. That's a good one. Also Fishkill Farms which is a little bit further up always have weekend activities and events going on too.

Alison Stewart: I'm curious because one of the places you mentioned, I went to check them out and it was interesting. They obviously had barbecued food available which I don't necessarily think of with fall. I'm curious, are there some of these farm experiences people might think they're all similar that have something particularly unique about them that you'd like to shout out?

Serena Norr: Harvest Moon Farm, that's the one that has the barbecue lunch but they also have this new apple cider drink. Basically, it's an apple cider slushy plus ice cream. Then you get your apple cider donut. It's like their version of this crazy milkshake but apple cider version.

Alison Stewart: Jennifer, how about in New Jersey? We know it's a garden state, my home state.

Jennifer Tripucka: There are so much going on in New Jersey especially for apple and pumpkin picking. The one that sticks out to me the most though is this place called Hill Creek Farms in Mullica Hill, New Jersey. They actually have a wine garden and of course cider donuts. It's a mix of fun for adults and children because there's a barrel train ride that the kids can take while the adults really just stroll through the wine garden from Auburn Wines, and there's actually 17,000 trees in the orchard to pick. It's a massive farm and just absolutely beautiful and lots of fun.

Alison Stewart: Serena if people are thinking apple picking, they've never been, and why would you go do this?

Serena Norr: You would go to get those fresh apples right off the tree where you can literally pick them off the tree. There's really no time of year where you can actually do that. Right in season, super fresh, get home, make a beautiful apple pie. It's just a fun activity for families, for anybody just to come up and also experience a little bit of nature in Westchester and just spend the day exploring.

Alison Stewart: My guests are Jennifer Tripucka. She is behind the Montclair Girl and the Hoboken Girl. She's editor in chief as well as Serena Norr, Westchester Family Magazine digital editor. We are talking about fall activities. We'll have more after the break. We're getting into pumpkins. We're not? No break? Okay, no break. Then we're just going to talk pumpkins. Jennifer, how should I plan my pumpkin patch visit to New Jersey?

Jennifer Tripucka: I would definitely recommend there is the largest pumpkin patch in New Jersey where you can actually pick it off the vine. That's at the Red Wagon Farm in Manalapan. It's also dog friendly which is really, really cool. You can bring your furry friends and they have a corn maze which is now open daily for the season. Their hay rides will actually be starting up on weekends beginning this weekend. You get a combo of pumpkins and hay rides and lots of fun and you can bring your furry friends.

Alison Stewart: How about in Westchester, particular pumpkin patches you like Serena?

Serena Norr: I love Barton Orchards which is a great farm. They also have a petting zoo. You can also do hay rides, pick your own pumpkins. They have a little park there for little kids as well. Fishkill Farms is also really nice. You can also do a corn maze as well. It's multiple different experiences. Harvest Moon which I've mentioned. Hurds Family Farm, they have a fun little kids' playground area. They have duck races, different obstacle course, nature trails. Again, you get a whole day's experience in addition to the pumpkins too.

Alison Stewart: Let's take some calls online. Let's see. We have got line three is Lisa calling in from West New York, New Jersey. Hi, Lisa. Thanks for calling All Of It.

Lisa: Hi. Actually, I'm a Brooklyn girl and every year without fail, I go to the Brooklyn Book Fair because it's fantastic. They have sheds, they have activities for kids. You can meet people. They have people talking. They have writers from all over the world. It's the same day as Atlantic Antics. You can start off with the Book Fair, spend all your money and then walk over to Atlantic Avenue. It's a block away.

Alison Stewart: Well, maybe I'll see you there because I believe I'm doing an event at the Brooklyn Book Festival with Gary Shteyngart and [unintelligible 00:10:28]. If you're there come say hi, Lisa

Lisa: I love Gary Shteyngart. Great writer.

Alison Stewart: Thanks for calling in. Thomas is saying regarding fall activities, watch out for Open House New York. On October 22nd, we spent the day spending historic houses on Staten Island, and then exploring for dinner, would work for any burough. That's really exciting. Let's talk to Jeanine from Brooklyn. Hi, Jeanine. Thanks for calling All Of It.

Jeanine: Hi. Nice to be here.

Alison Stewart: You are on the air.

Jeanine: I started doing ocean swimming in the late months of the year. It began during the pandemic because all the gyms were closed and all the pools were closed. Now I go to the ocean through November and it's a place that I never thought I'd be in the autumn months that I really appreciate.

Alison Stewart: What made you take up swimming during the pandemic? That's so interesting.

Jeanine: Well, I've been swimming for a long time, and it was just that we lost the pools because they closed. I've been open water swimming for a long time, but the group of swimmers that I found really interesting were the ones that swam all year round. On the beaches of Brooklyn, you can just really enjoy the beautiful ocean that we have that I don't think a lot of people appreciate.

Alison Stewart: Is it cold?

Jeanine: It's cold, yes. That's another thing I never thought I'd make it that long. You get used to it. The difference part about swimming in the cold water is that afterwards the effects put you in a good mood all day.

Alison Stewart: Love it. Jeanine, thank you so much for sharing your story. Let's talk to Emily calling in from Huntington. Hi, Emily. Thanks for calling All of It. You're on the air.

Emily: Hi. This isn't an activity so much for fun, but you have to do it in the fall. This is mostly for your suburban listeners. In the fall when people put out their brown leaves for, I'm not even sure what, like it either goes to garbage or maybe it gets composted somewhere. When I drive around, I pick up a couple of bags of racked-up up brown leaves to use all year in my compost at home. For people who thought about composting, but always thought it's really difficult, leaves are magic.

If you want to start a bin, pick up a bag or two if you see them put out and your own leaves, you should leave on the lawn and mulch them. Then I have them all year long. Now I'm waiting, I'm waiting for people to put out their bags of leaves.

Alison Stewart: You heard the lady, leaves are magic. Emily, thanks so much. Let's talk to Kevin, calling in for Morristown, New Jersey. Hi, Kevin, Thanks for calling All of It. You are on the air.

Kevin: Hey, how are you doing? I wanted to give a shout-out for Ochs Farm in Long Valley, Chester, New Jersey. The location is beautiful because to the north you've got these hills which are full of color if you hit it at the right week. The other great thing about it, like a real, real local thing, is they have a corn maze. They have pumpkin picking, they have all that kind of stuff. Hot apple cider, all that kind of stuff. Every weekend in October, a different community group does the food stand. It's really, really great to encourage local civic organizations and stuff like that.

Alison Stewart: Love it. Thank you for the tip. Listeners, we want to hear what activities you like to do throughout the fall. How do you celebrate the changing of the seasons? Are there certain things you really enjoy doing with your family? We've heard horseback riding, we've heard ocean swimming. This has been a very interesting segment so far. Maybe there's certain street fairs or fall festivals that you like a lot. We are crowdsourcing our October, November and the rest of September calendar. 212-433-9692, 212-433-WNYC is our phone number. Social media, it's @allofitwnyc.

My guest my ride-along for this is Jennifer Tripucka from the Montclair Girl, and The Hoboken Girl editor-in-chief. As well as Serena Norr from Westchester Family Magazine, Digital editor. All right. Serena, I've been saving one of the biggest for last, the great Jack O' Lantern Blaze. It is a huge attraction in this area. It's one of those things. It's been on my bucket list forever. I think this might be the year. Can you explain how popular this is?

Serena Norr: This has taken on a life of its own. It is so widely popular. The second tickets go on sale, people go crazy and go get tickets. Basically, it's a walkthrough experience where you get to see almost 7,000 illuminated pumpkins. You just go out your pace, walkthrough, see all of these gorgeous pumpkins, take tons of pictures, and then after you can get apple cider donuts, you have apple cider, but it's really the artistry of the pumpkins. There's pumpkins that are like Statue of Liberty pumpkins, all of these crazy intricate designs by artists, and they're on display up until November 20th. Definitely go get your tickets.

Alison Stewart: I wanted to make that point out. You just can't roll up to the ground.

Serena Norr: You'll probably get turned away, so you have to get them in advance.

Alison Stewart: Since we started talking about pumpkins, I wanted to ask about Halloween, Jennifer. What kind of spooky things can I put on my calendar?

Jennifer Tripucka: There's no shortage of those, of course, in October. One that is just such a unique one and local to Jersey City is actually called Zombie Opera. This is a nonprofit opera popup that happens annually in Hamilton Park, Jersey City. It's a really cool night obviously, very dark, very spooky. It's on October 29th this year. There's also of course other types of haunted things. We have actually a lot on our site of various hauntings and things you can walk through.

There is one that's very interesting and it's normally at a farm in the area. They actually do a haunted sunflower type of maze. This is at A. Casola Farms in Holmdel, New Jersey. They have hay rides, they have the House of Horrors, but they also have a haunted sunflower maze, which I thought was just so fun. It's a really great event for people of all ages. Of course, if you're not too spooked.

Alison Stewart: I was going to say, wait, Sunflowers and haunted maze.

Jennifer Tripucka: It's quite an anomaly, but yes.

Alison Stewart: Jerry from Caldwell, New Jersey has told us there is a great street fair on the first Monday of October in Caldwell. Let's go to line four and talk to Matt from Brooklyn. Hi, Matt. Thanks for calling All Of It.

Matt: Hi there. I'm calling to plug an event in Wildwood, New Jersey called The Race of Gentleman put on by the Oilers Car Club. They race pre-war cars on the beach right by the surf in front of the Wildwood Boardwalk. I believe that event this year is October 1st.

Alison Stewart: Excellent. Thank you for the tip. Let's talk to Steve, who's calling in from Connecticut. Hi, Steve. Thanks for calling.

Steve: Hi. Okay. I'm calling to pitch their Side Farms in Greenwich, Connecticut right off of I84. They have got this great agritourism aspect to them where you can walk in the woods. They're the largest growers of [unintelligible 00:18:31] mushrooms in the state of Connecticut. In the fall, the mushrooms come out for picking. Plus, also, in the fall what happens is you have cool nights and warm days and what that does is it sweetens all of the [unintelligible 00:18:46]. These are the dark cruciferous greens that are so healthy for you. Side Farms in Greenwich, Connecticut, in the backcountry.

Alison Stewart: Love it. Thank you so much for the tip. Let's go to line seven. Madden is calling in from Queens. Hi, Madden.

Madden: Hi. There is a lovely opportunity within the five boroughs at the Queens County Farm Museum. There is a amazing corn maze. They also have a pumpkin patch. I think you can actually do the corn maze by night on certain nights in October. There's apple cider donuts. Basically everything you need for fall in the greatest Borough of Queens.

Alison Stewart: Oh, I used to take my kid to that all the time. That one is a really good one. Thanks for calling in. Serena, so Westchester, I mean between Tarrytown and Sleepy Hollow, there's all kinds of spooky opportunities and I understand there are a lot of parades in Nyack and Tarrytown. Are these straight costume parade anyone can join? Tell us a little bit more about our parading opportunities.

Serena Norr: Most of them are costume opportunities where you can come, even if you don't live in the community, you can come celebrate the festivities. A lot of local businesses will be out. As vendors, you can support local restaurants. A lot of them have also live music so it's also just a great way to check out a new town even if you don't live in a town and just have fun and enjoy Halloween somewhere else.

Alison Stewart: Let's talk to Judy on line four, wants to talk about some New York City street fairs. Hey, Judy.

Judy: Hi, Alison. I'm calling to let your listeners know about a super fun street fair on West 24th Street coming up this Saturday. It's London Terrace Tenants Association Annual Block Fair and Sale and another one October 1st on West 104th Street. They're once a year and they're super fun.

Alison Stewart: Thank you so much. Someone just called in and wanted to know exactly where the Jack O' Lantern Blaze is, Serena.

Serena Norr: That is in Croton-on-Hudson.

Alison Stewart: Croton-on-Hudson. Thank you so much. Let's go to Kathleen calling in from Beacon New York. Hi, Kathleen.

Kathleen: Hi, so glad to talk to you today. I want to tell you about the Hudson River Valley Ramble. It is a website that Hudson River Valley people, I think that's through the state of New York has set up from many years. It has hundreds of activities, late summer all through the fall. Hiking, nature events, cultural events, you name it.

Alison Stewart: Thanks for calling in. Let's talk to Rachel on line eight calling in from Nayak. Hi, Rachel. You're on the air.

Rachel: Hi. First of all, I wanted to share that for those in Southern New Jersey, there is supposed to be one of the most frightening haunted places. It takes place in, I'm not sure if it's in the medical history museum or if it's in the horrible jail for the insane. It's one or the other but both of them have things that would scare you to death anyway because I've been to both of them. I think it's in the jail though. What were called jail cells that these people had to live in.

Alison Stewart: Ooh, it sounds really really scary so I'm going to let people Google to find more information because we're running up against the end of this--

Jennifer Tripucka: Brighton Asylum

Alison Stewart: Brighton Asylum, potentially. Jennifer thank you for that. Quick Oktoberfest in New Jersey, Jennifer. What can you tell me for people who want to engage in that?

Jennifer Tripucka: Two places you have to go, one is this weekend actually. It's at the Montclair Brewery which is one of the three Black-owned breweries in New Jersey, very cool. The other one is Pilsener Haus in Hoboken New Jersey and that one is happening in October. Really great events, live music, tons of brews, and celebration of October.

Alison Stewart: Let's slide one more in. Christine live from Gowanus. Real quick, tell us what's going on.

Christine: Hi, there's two things going on. First one is October 15th and 16 from 12:00 to 6:00 is the Open Studios in Gowanus. Please come, it's Open Studios. The artists will open up all of their studios for you to walk through for free. The other one is on October 1st. That is with the Van Allen Institute and that's located on Doug, this block party is located on Douglass & Bond Street in Gowanus.

Alison Stewart: Love it. Thank you so much. Thanks to everybody who called in as well as Jennifer Tripucka from Montclair Girl and the Hoboken Girl, as well as Serena Norr from Westchester Family Magazine. She's the digital editor there. Jennifer and Serena, thank you so much for all the great information.

Jennifer Tripucka: Thanks for having us. Happy fall.

 

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