Ardenwood Park: Where Popcorn Grows and More

Ardenwood Park is part of the East Bay Regional Park District.  It is a working farm.  So, there is everything you would expect on a farm: cows, sheep, bunnies, fields, barns and tractors. We went there for their annual Harvest Festival.

I’ve been to Ardenwood well over half a dozen times over the past four years. And, much to my surprise, this visit was the first for my husband. We have even been to the Harvest Festival before—where was he? Ah! Life in the Silicon Valley with its demanding fast pace. He must have been at work—that’s the only explanation I can think of.

When they put on the annual Harvest Festival, they give people the chance to pick the corn which has grown in their corn fields. It can be a real free-for-all in the fields. People come with large bags and leave with them filled with cobs of corn, both Indian corn and popping corn.

For us, it was like a treasure hunt with anticipation of what we would find net.  Would the next ear of corn we unfolded hold an unblemished cob of corn? Would it be a perfect specimen? Would it have spectacular colors? Of course, this was especially true for the Indian corn, where each cob is uniquely colored.

And, because many people had gone through the fields before our family had, there were plenty of cobs of corn which had been gnawed on by worms and such. Made for a challenging hunt, but we did find some pretty ones!

And, anyway, what is it about getting lost in corn fields? Go over one row, and you are almost completely lost from the group. (In fact, we did see the park’s staff running around working to unite one little boy with his family.) For our family, there was lots of excitement: “Where’s Mommy?”  “Oh, there she is. I can see her two rows over!”

We rode the narrow gauge railroad, with the little engine built by Plymouth.  Plymouth engines are pretty small, which makes the train a little less intimidating than one pulled by a large steam or diesel locomotive. Yet it is no less authentic. Plymouth Locomotive Works (building in Ohio from 1910 until 1999) was one of the most prolific, with over 7,500 powerful locomotives constructed.

We also took in the farm on a tractor hay ride. This was a lot of fun. Our son loved bouncing along in the tractor trailer—getting hay all over—and listening to the farmer describe the crops in different sections of the fields.

My husband and son enjoyed the extensive collection of antique gasoline C.L. Best and Caterpillar tractors. Pretty neat for them to get to see so many lined up in a row. The barn on the Ardenwood farm has harvesting equipment from Holt. For parents with kids who are “bulldozer” and “digger” enthusiasts, Best and Holt merged in 1925 to form the California-based Caterpillar Tractor Company. So, when you look at these Best and Holt machines, you’re seeing the ancestors of the big yellow Cats we love today.

When we got home we got busy. We bought a sugar pumpkin to make pie, and I cut it up and steamed it. Having never made pumpkin pie out of uncanned pumpkin, I went to the web to find out what to do. It is recommended to strain the pumpkin before using it, so with the help of coffee filters and the strainer tray, we got this done overnight.

Then we went onwards to help in the implementation of our son's Jack-o-Lantern design. Since pumpkin pie was not going to happen that night, and I was still in the mood for a festive fall treat, I decided to make Indian pudding.

I first became introduced to Indian pudding whil I was in grade school in southern Vermont. My best friend's Mom ran a hotel and tavern called “The Tavern.” My folks and I would frequently eat dinner there and say “hi” to everyone we knew (especially my friend and her mom). I remember the first time I had Indian pudding. Reading over the dessert list with my dad (who always got dessert with dinner), I asked, “what is Indian pudding?” My Dad explained that it is a dessert that the Native Americans made with corn meal and maple syrup.

Being an adventurous eater, I tried it. At The Tavern you had an option of having it with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream. I have tried both, and both are great. Ice cream is great with the cold ice cream melting over the hot pudding. Whipped cream is great with its bubbling frothiness. (Note: the recipe I posted I substituted maple syrup for the molassas and used half the butter.)

We had two other edibles from our Ardenwood harvest. I roasted the pumpkin seeds from the Jack-o-Lantern we carved. These turned out very yummy. And, we took a shot at popping the popcorn ears we had picked.

Popcorn turned out to be the larger learning experience. My husband tried to pop an ear (with the kernels still on it) in the microwave. This generated some popped kernels (which were very crunchy) and a lot of smoke. We then picked the kernels off of our ears of corn (and wow, does one ear of corn make a lot of popcorn kernels). And, we tried to pop these the old-school way in a pan with hot oil. Not much better luck than with the microwave experiment. 

Chatting with some friends that evening we learned that we should dry the kernels out.  And, that’s pretty much where we are on the popcorn. Several days of drying later, we’re ready to try popping one more time!

The Basics:

Ardenwood Park

• Winter Entry Fees (Nov 21 2010 - March 2011)

Tuesday-Sunday--$2 adult, $1 age 4-17

• Summer entry Fees (April 1, 2011 to November 20, 2011)

Tues., Wed. & Sat.--$2 adult, $2 senior, $1 age 4-17

Thurs., Fri. and Sun.--$5 adult, $4 senior, $4 age 4-17

• Special Event Entry Fee

$8 adult, $6 senior, $5 age 4-17

Please call (510) 544-2797 for updated info on special event fees

• There is a restaurant/grill inside the park for lunches.

• Note: Dogs are not permitted in the park. Modern recreational equipment (i.e. frisbees, footballs, soccer balls), bicycles, balloons, and BBQs are prohibited.

• Directions:

In Fremont, exit Highway 84 at Ardenwood/Newark Boulevard. Go north on Ardenwood Boulevard. The entrance is just north of Highway 84.

Links:

• History of Caterpiller, Best and Holt tractors

• Plymouth Locomotives historical photos link

• Indian pudding recipe

• Pumpkin pie recipe

• Roasted pumpkin seeds recipe