I had been hearing about Tanaka Farms in Irvine through the pumpkin vine (hee hee), so we ventured out to check it out last week. It is just DARLING! Only bummer was that it was sooooo hot that day! It felt like 100 degrees and the sun was really intense. Do you ever remember it being this hot in mid-October? I am really longing for some crisp Fall weather. These hot temps have seemed to last forever this year!
Moving on, Tanaka Farms is this darling little farm off University Dr. in Irvine. They have family events going year round, and right now you can go out and visit their awesome pumpkin patch! There were a ton of things for the kids…”u pick” pumpkins, pick your own vegetable patch, corn maze, tractor rides, and a pretty big petting zoo. When you pull into the parking lot, you will see the petting zoo on the corner off of University Dr., then you will pull into a dirt parking lot. You will walk to the entrance off the parking lot to get to the enormous pumpkin patch. There, you can buy tickets for the tractor rides and petting zoo. We took the tractor down to the petting zoo, so you can use it like a shuttle. Or, you can walk there too. We went on a weekday, but it seems like there is even more stuff going on during the weekends.
We met a nice lady there who was super enthusiastic about the farm and told us about their strawberry event in the spring. I guess you can go and pick your own strawberries and actually eat them right off the vine since this farm is totally organic! Isn’t that cool? She said the kids love it! We will definitely check that out when the time comes.
The pumpkin patch is open daily from 9am – 6pm through October 31st.
Their strawberry tours are their BEST event in my opinion! PS Did you try their salsa?! MMMMMMMMMMM 🙂
I didn’t try the salsa! I am so bummed! Next time, thanks for the tip!!!
Zoomar’s in San Juan has a really cute pumpkin patch too. its great for toddlers.
We went to Tanaka farms last weekend and thought it was "just OK". There were not any pumpkins on a vine just 100’s of rotten pumpkins everywhere! It was gross. Also, I thought the petting zoo was very dirty. I would not go back. However, I heard of a great one in Pomona. The University grows their own pumpkins and it is an adventure to go out and pick them. It looks much more tranquil and serine. We will try that next year.
so glad you posted your feedback…we didn’t actually pick a pumpkin so we didn’t look at them that closely, rotten ones are NO good! keep commenting everyone – i like to hear all opinions!
Jen,
My 5 year old son just returned from a trip to our local "Pumpkin patch" down here in Florida. My wife went with him since it was a school sponsored field trip. We are lucky, a church here sponsors the event and has volunteers run it. Profit from the pumkin sales go to local charities.
It was so windy that the main registration tent flipped over today and the school teachers decided to cut the trip short from excessive wind. They will go strawberry picking in the spring and it should be fun for all.
Their is no doubt that this Pumkkin patch at Tanaka Farms looks amazing. Next time I’m in the area I will definately check them out.
David