ML Interest Tag: prune

Flora Lotta Fun: Pick Your Own Flowers

by Meghan Yudes Meyers

Editor’s note: We’re making every effort to provide you with the most up-to-date information. However, there may be last minute closures due to Covid-19. We highly recommend that you call ahead or check a farm’s website before you pack your kids  (and all those snacks, and diapers…) and haul them across town. Stay safe!

Grab your wellies, your buckets and your cameras, and make a bee line to one of these flower farms–each within an hour drive from downtown DC.

photo: Charlotte Coneybeer via Unsplash 

 

Burnside Farms
Sunflowers reign supreme during summer months. With over eight acres of flowers, this spectacular pick-your-own venue is one of the largest in the entire world. Really! Note: Purchase tickets ($8) beforehand as they are not available at the gate.

2570 Logmill Rd.
Haymarket, VA
703-930-3052
Online: burnsidefarms.com

Butlers Orchard
Located in Germantown, Md and open for 65 years, this orchard is filled to the brim with different crops to choose from. Peonies are available until mid-June with other varieties available through July. There is even an area for farm picnics and a lovely market with snacks for the entire fam to enjoy. Insider suggestion: the blueberry lemon buckle is sososo nommy!

22200 Davis Mill Rd.
Germantown, MD
301-972-3299
Online: butlersorchard.com

Rockhill Orchard
The flower arrangement possibilities are endless here. There are tons of different flowers that are always in bloom and the farm even has guided tours. There’s even a creamery with a tractor ride to the dairy farm! Your little one will LOVE it.

28600 Ridge Rd.
Mount Airy, MD
301-831-7427
Online: rockhillorchard.com

Fields of Flowers
From mid-May until the first frost, families can wander through the acres of flowers and snip and pick at leisure. Once you’ve had your fill, bring your bucket to a workstation where you can clean and prune your bouquet to perfection.

37879 Allder School Rd.
Purcellville, VA
540-338-7231
Online: loudounfieldsofflowers.com

Seven Oaks Lavender Farm
This mother-daughter business has been inviting guests to enjoy their scented hillside for 18 years. Lavender is available for picking through mid-July; stems are 15 cents each. Don’t forget to nab a picture in the gazebo in the middle of the purple fields.

8769 Old Dumfries Rd.
Catlett, VA
540-272-7839
Online: sevenoakslavenderfarm.com

—Meghan Yudes Meyers and Miller Jackson

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The Mix-and-Match Donut Shop Every Kid (and Grown-Up) Should Try

by Ayren Jackson-Cannady
It’s a funny name; The Fractured Prune. If you ask your kids what they think this shop sells, we’re betting you’ll get a blank stare. Here’s a hint: It’s the Cold Stone Creamery of deep-fried dough. Yup, that’s right! At The Fractured Prune, you and your little ones become donut flavor inventors, by mixing and matching nearly twenty glazes and over a dozen toppings; that’s over four million possible combinations! If you’re feeling uninventive, you can choose a tried-and-true favorite from the menu, like French Toast (a combination of maple glaze and cinnamon sugar) or Blackberry Cobbler (blackberry glaze, graham crackers and powdered sugar).
The location
The Fractured Prune is a small, regional chain that is poised for a nationwide expansion this year. The closest outpost to Washington, D.C. is located in Frederick, Md; the tiny shop sits in a nondescript shopping mall on the outskirts of town. It’s a simple operation with a mom-and-pop vibe that feels faintly reminiscent of the company’s 1970’s roots.
The donut
Everyone starts with the same, basic donut; a cake-base reminiscent of a cider mill, which has a slightly crispy exterior when it comes out of the fryer. After sliding off the fryer’s conveyer belt, each ring of fried dough is customized to your liking. This hands-on approach from batter to topping takes approximately five minutes, so don’t come here in a rush! Because of the piping hot nature of the dough, glazes and toppings become melted gooey concoctions; you’ll need to grab a fork and knife to enjoy these. Die-hard aficionados suggest waiting for the donut to cool and dry, so that it develops a crusty bite, but we’re betting you and your wee ones won’t want to wait!
The sugar rush

It’s inevitable…and totally worth it. But, if you want to burn off some of that extra energy before the car ride home, you’ve go some pretty cool options. Window shop in Downtown Frederick which is packed with stores, galleries and (if you’re lucky) live corner entertainment. There’s also Rose Hill Manor Park and Children’s Museum (a neat little blast from the past that offers guided tours of a manor house, icehouse, log cabin, barns and more), and Walkersville Southern Railroad, where kids can ride on a vintage train.

The Fractured Prune
1202 E Patrick St. (Frederick, Md)
Online: fracturedprune.com

Been to (or live in) Frederick, Md? In the comments section below, tell us your favorite spots in town. 

—Meghan Yudes Meyers

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Ugliest Baby Photo Contest – Enter Now!

by Jacqui Boland

Let’s face it, with prune-like skin, baby acne, cradle cap, rashes and drooling, not everything about a newborn baby is pretty. We’re asking parents to take off their rose-colored glasses and admit it: you have an ugly baby.

There is no shame in having an ugly baby. In fact, there can be fame, glory and fortune for your little ugly ducking if you enter Red Tricycle’s Ugly Baby Contest.

The Contest:
We’re looking for newborn babies from 0 – six months who display the worst characteristics of new babyhood – the ones that make you think, “gosh, I hope this is just a stage!”

First Prize:

1. Recognition that yes, it’s true, you do have an ugly baby

2. A new camera, so you can record every grotesque moment.

3. A $5,000 credit with this board-certified plastic surgeon ( in case it wasn’t “just a phase”)

To Enter:

Click here to go to our entry page to submit your photo and read full contest rules.

View Submissions:

Click here to view the ugly baby submissions and vote for your favorite.

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