5th Annual Sunflower Festival

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5th Annual Sunflower Festival
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The 5th Annual Sunflower Festival at Maple Lawn Farms

Enjoy the 5th annual Sunflower Festival at Maple Lawn Farms. With 8-acres and over 187,000 sunflowers in bloom, the festival is the largest, most diverse pick-your-own sunflower patch East of the Mississippi River.

The farmers at Maple Lawn Farms planted 8-acres or approximately 8 football fields of sunflowers. In one section, it’s planted full of the classic yellow sunflowers that will mature at about 5 feet tall.

In another section, visitors get to see around 40 different varieties planted in display plots to show off exotic, multi-colored varieties. In “Land of the Giants,” towering sunflowers form pathways to explore. The “Red Sea” is nearly a full acre of deep, velvety-red sunflowers, unlike anything we’ve planted before.

In “The Wilds,” guests may pick their included sunflower, or pick their pre-purchased 6, 12, or 18 sunflowers from a mixture of over 40 different varieties! All different sizes and colors displayed are ornamental sunflowers.

Relax, get a bite to eat, and even enjoy a glass of wine from Maple Lawn Winery under the enormous white tent and enjoy the lawn – all right in the middle of the Sunflower Fields!

The NEW Safety Plan for the Age in which we live:

Your safety and the safety of our staff is the top priority. We are looking forward to your visit, and have just a few new processes and procedures for guests to follow:

  • Social distancing remains important and all guests are asked to remain a minimum of 6-feet from other guests and staff. 
  • We are enhancing our timed-ticketing program to limit the total number of guests to 50% of our total capacity. NO tickets will be sold at the gate.
  • General admission ticket holders should plan to enjoy a two-hour experience. Most guests for the last 3 festivals averaged 1.5-2 hrs per visit, so this is unlikely to be an inconvenience.
  • Guests and staff are required to wear masks during arrival, transportation on the wagons, and when walking through the patch. You may, of course, remove your masks for picture taking 🙂
  • Guests should plan to bring gloves to use during loading on the ride wagons and while using the flower cutters.

Sunflower “Early Bloomers Weekend Aug. 6th-8th:

This is the early opening and this is a non-festival weekend with a tractor ride and picking, but no food service or LIVE music. It’s meant to be a day in the flowers. Just $10 for children (ages 3-10yrs, 0-2yrs are FREE), $18 Adults (ages 11-101yrs), BUT online ticketing discounts offer the chance to purchase tickets at up to $8 OFF – Purchase Early! Each ticket includes admission, wagon ride to the fields, and one sunflower bloom of the guest’s choice. Friday & Saturday 10am-5pm also Sunday 1pm-5pm.

NOTE: Not all varieties may be blooming yet!

Sunflower Festival General Public Admission Aug 13th-15th and Aug 20th-22nd:

Each ticket includes admission, wagon ride to the fields, and one sunflower of the guest’s choice. Choose the time you would like to visit to get the maximum amount of time in the sunflower fields. Friday Family Day Festival Hours are 10am-5pm. Saturday Sunflower Festival Hours 10am-8:30pm. Sunday Sunflower Festival Hours 1pm-6pm.  *We will close and clear the fields at time stated above on each day.  Please plan accordingly.

No pets are permitted on the grounds or at the Festival.  Thank you for understanding.  Service animals are permitted with proper identification.

NEW Options for Sunflower Enthusiasts! If you LOVE sunflowers, you can make the festival, even more, your very own with our NEW VIP options.

  • Want two different views? The Sunflower FlexPass is valid for ANY two days including Early Bloomers, so you can enjoy two different views of the event. 
  • Is the sunflower field your happy place? The Sunflower ULTIMATE Access Pass is valid for EVERY day of the event and includes a bloom with every visit.
  • Are you totally into sunflowers? The Sunflower Spectacular Pass is the ULTIMATE, every-day access with a bloom on every visit, plus your choice of (1) signature bucket with 10 blooms, (2) wine serving vouchers and 20% bottles of wine for pass holders. (21 and Older Only. All ID’s will be checked- Purchased on the grounds at the Festival Wine Cube only.)

“Each year is an adventure in color,” says Matt Posey, Farm Manager at Maple Lawn Farms. “It’s agriculture. Our guests will have to be forgiving if the sunflowers don’t all cooperate, but when it happens, it should be a wonderful show.”

[WINE JOBS] We’re auditioning new pouring staff for Fri-Sat-Sun part-time positions

On Filed under In the News

Winery-Recruiting-Ad-1

 

Hey Folks, it’s the Fall season and we’re auditioning new pouring staff for Fri-Sat-Sun part-time positions at our events and festivals. Interested?

 

YES – There is a substantial employee discount.

YES – It is as fun as they make it out to be in the movies.

 

Step 1: DOWNLOAD the application and bring it to the farm office.

Step 2: One-on-One Interview with Hugh & Michelle

Step 3: (If selected) Group Orientation to Winery Pouring and Retail

Step 4: (If selected) Training with the crew

Step 5: (If selected) You’re on!

 

General Public Hours: Sat 12PM-5PM or 8PM, Sun 1PM-5PM, Friday events as scheduled 5PM-9PM (Please do not apply if these hours do not fit your schedule.)

General Season: Weekends March-December (Full schedules provided to staff.)

Special Events for 2018:

Sunflower Festival Aug 10, 11, 12 & Aug 17, 18, 19 – YES. You can just work Sunflower Festival as we will need a lot of help for two weekends, but you’ll probably have fun and want to work more.

CLICK Link: http://bit.ly/MLEapp  PRINT from your computer, then bring to the farm market!

 

 

Cigar Guitar, BBQ & Wine Event

On Filed under In the News, Special Event

ShaneSpielCigarBoxGuitarEVENT

Get down to the King of Cigar Box Guitars, Shane Spiel, as you down delicious BBQ from Smokin’ Coals and sip luscious fruit Wines and Ciders from Maple Lawn Winery.

Admisssion is FREE, just buy your food and wine to enjoy a crisp Fall Friday Night on the farm.

Don’t you get tired of doing the same old stuff? The Fall season is here and we’re kicking off our Fall Event series with LIVE music, LIVE food, and LIVE wine pouring at Maple Lawn Winery.

Good news: There are NO TICKETS required to stop by for music & food, plus you may purchase wine & hard cider by the glass and the VIP Membership card at the bottom entitles you to exclusive “by-the-glass” pricing at the event!

Friday’s event (5PM-8PM) features:

https://www.facebook.com/CigarBoxGuitar

MUSIC: Shane Speal is the King of Cigar Box Guitars. York’s very own maker and musician of this olde tyme folk instrument has carved out a niche in folk & funk. Enjoy your food and enjoy the entertainment. His shows are never the same twice!

https://www.facebook.com/SmokinCoalsBBQ/

FOOD: Back by Popular Demand and bringing the smoked-on-the-spot meats, mac & cheese with burnt ends and more, Smokin’ Coals is BBQ on a mission. A portion of the profits goes to Beast Cancer Research, so eat up and you’ll be helpin’ out!

Michelle’s Wine Pairing Recommendation: Blueberry Blossom

Thanks for your support and we’ll see you this weekend!

-Hugh from Maple Lawn Winery

Friday Sept 30, 2016: The First Annual “Homegrown Food & Wine Fest” at Maple Lawn Winery & Cider House

On Filed under In the News, Special Event, VIP Club

–> CLICK to BUY TICKETS NOW<–

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Matt Posey & Hugh McPherson pour samples at the Maple Lawn Winery tasting room during the July VIP Tasting Event. Maple Lawn Winery is located next to the Maple Lawn Farms Farm Market and wines are made on-site.
The First Annual “Homegrown Food & Wine Fest” at Maple Lawn Winery & Cider House
Join friends and neighbors Sept 30, 2016 6PM-9PM for a special Friday night outdoor event featuring “Local Food, Wine, Beer & Music”. Attendees are encouraged to bring a chair and sit under the stars enjoying LIVE music from Dwayne & Eric. Food trucks and mobile vendors offer food for purchase from Seafood to Barbecue. Guests may purchase a glass of wine from Maple Lawn Winery or pint of beer sourced from our neighborhood brewers, South County Brewing (located just 3 miles away from the farm in Fawn Grove).
Maple Lawn Winery & Cider House is the newest winery in York County at one of the oldest farms in York County. The fruit wines are made to stay as try true to the original fruit letting the tree-ripens flavors come through. Peach Blossom is the featured selection made from 100% Maple Lawn Farms grown peaches. Apple Blossom is a mix of apples grown on the farm and it’s crisp sweet finish works well chilled or warm and spiced with mulling spices sold in the farm market. Blueberry and cherry wines feature fruit flavors grown on the farm. Hard cider is a bubbly, crisp and dry apple beverage bottled in 12oz bottles.
Details & Location: Maple Lawn Farms Farm Market, 2885 New Park Rd, New Park, PA 17352
General Admission to the event is $5.00 and includes entrance, a wine or beer tasting.
Enhanced Admission is just $7.00 and includes, entrance, wine and beer tasting, and a Maple Lawn Winery stemmed wine glass.
Tickets are limited, required for admission, must be 21yrs+ and should be ordered in advance for the special Food & Wine event. Remaining tickets sold at the door.

Maple Lawn Farms launches fruit wine, cider

On Filed under In the News

Maple Lawn Winery & Cider House - Bottling

Maple Lawn Winery featured in the York Daily Record

By Brett Sholtis
March 8, 2016

The farm has opened a wine and cider tasting room.

Maple Lawn Farms has grown apples and peaches for about 160 years. Now, the fifth-generation family business has started a fruit wine and cider-making operation at its 1,200-acre farm.

Fruit wine and cider

Most wine is made from grapes. This wine, however, is made from the farm’s apples and peaches, said Hugh McPherson, who owns the farm.

Fruit wine takes about 10 days to ferment, McPherson said, making it a slightly quicker process than fermenting grapes. Hard cider takes a little longer to make than wine because it has to be carbonated, McPherson said.

With the help of area winemakers such as Carl Helrich at Allegro Vineyards and Ted Potter at Naylor Wine Cellars, he learned to make wine and cider with no added ingredients, he said.

​”Instead of a sweet wine, we wanted to make sure you get that full fruit flavor,” McPherson said.

From leftovers to wine

The project cost about $200,000, McPherson said. He was able to get a United States Department of Agriculture matching grant for $44,000 because the wine and cider operations use leftover fruit that would otherwise get shipped away or discarded — especially peaches, which go bad quickly.

“Because peaches are so perishable, the value of them once they get soft very quickly goes to zero,” McPherson said. “Repurposing the fruit from the packer to the winery for fermenting and bottling recaptures and enhances the total value of the farm’s production.”

The operation will add 12 to 15 seasonal jobs, he said, and hiring will start within the next couple months.

Read more at ydr.com