Fall Walk to Tilly's

Today the 1-2s took a walk to Tilly's Market to talk to Rick Ciccarelli and find out about seasonal changes in an outdoor market.  What we noticed first were the pumpkins.  Lots of pumpkins!   Rick told us how he calls local farms in early September to start placing orders for pumpkins.  The most popular kind, he told us, are the classic orange carving pumpkins.  But he also orders some more unusual kinds of all sizes, colors and textures.  There is one particular kind that Rick tries to order few of and those would be the "Cinderella Pumpkins".  These flat, smooth pumpkins have a lovely reddish-orange color, but tend to rot more quickly than other types, making them less than ideal for lasting through the fall season.  

Rick also told us that Tilly's is a market that has been in Natick for 75 years!  His grandparents, Tilly and Salvy, started it as a small farm stand.  But it has grown into a larger business that has been handed down to Rick and now his son is running the store.  The Bacon Street Farm, as it is now called, certainly has strong roots in our community and strives to support local farmers and suppliers.

After learning about Tilly's, we had some time to explore what there is to see outdoors at Tilly's in the fall.  We saw a Haunted House (but we didn't go in).  We saw even more pumpkins! Chicken pumpkins in a henhouse, pumpkin people (even one in a portapotty that everyone seemed to love), carved pumpkins and painted pumpkins.  We had a lot of fun looking at all the pumpkins.  As a final surprise, Rick sent us back to school with a snack of pretzel rods and apples!  He also let us choose a pumpkin for each classroom.  1-2M picked out a white cotton candy pumpkin and 1-2A chose an orange koma koma with deep grooves.  We thanked Rick and headed back to Lilja to write about our experience.