If you have small children, odds are you’re taking them to a farm this fall to pick some form of fruit or vegetable (pumpkins are veggies, right?) But not all farms are created equal. Just like people, farms come in all shapes and sizes and offerings.

And one such farm offering is what I now refer to as the “Big Box Farms”. These are the farms that equate autumn with a party and come late September, turn their farm into a full fledged carnival of attractions. Sure these farms might be just as passionate about their product as the tiniest farm you’ve ever seen, but they want to make sure that, while you’re picking those products, you’re also getting your face painted, running through a corn maze and getting catapulted into the sky on a bungee cord.

I’m talking places like  Harvest Moon Orchard, in Croton Falls, NY,  Silverman’s Farm in Easton, CT and Long Island’s Harbes Family Farm. The girls and I visited Harvest Moon and Harbes back-to-back over the past two weekends and I’m here to tell you about what we saw.