PYO
Years ago I found some prints done by an artist that concentrated on old barns and clouds. I liked the barn prints, but I loved the cloud prints. There are few things I like as much as a big sky. It may be what appeals to me most about being out west. I guess because there are fewer trees and small hills, there always seems to be a big sky. Lately I have realized that there is big sky anywhere you get a bit of elevation over your surroundings. My office has a big sky view over New York Harbor. Lots of fluffy clouds on a sunny day.
Today I got some big sky in an unexpected place and got a dose of PYO along with it. We went with my daughter and her family to a farm in New Jersey to pick strawberries. This is called a PYO farm since it’s a place where you go to Pick Your Own fruits and vegetables. Depending on the season, you can pick strawberries, peas, raspberries, blueberries, beans, peaches, blackberries, peppers, eggplant, tomatoes, potatoes, apples or pumpkins (in that order from May to October). It’s an amazing place and only an hour from New York City.
I spent six years planning to be in the attractions business by building The New York Wheel. We spent many hours discussing how to attract 4 million visitors per year and then how to manage them, keep them occupied (dwell time is an important metric of attractions because it implies how much money attendees leave behind) and how much we could expect to earn per customer. It’s a daunting challenge we never got to realize for many reasons too involved to recite here. I also watched my son plan a smaller scale attraction called Winter Wonderland that was scheduled to provide family fun for five weeks between Thanksgiving and Christmas. That was supposed to attract 30,000 visitors and it drew 50,000, but the estimates on attendee spend were way too high and the cost estimates were way too low. Hence, I’ve learned about how difficult running a good attraction can be.
This PYO farm was wonderful. I would guess they drew 2,000 visitors today, spread very evenly over the sunny day. A simple gravel parking lot, well-marked and free. An entry fee for adults and children ($85 for our group of 6) that entitled the attendee to use any of the rides, feed any of the animals (petting zoo style) and pick any fruit or vegetable that was in season. You could bring your own containers or buy cheap cardboard containers in which to gather your produce. We boarded a benched hay-wagon pulled by a tractor (perfectly comfortable and easy to board and exit). We were taken to the far side of the 600 acre family farm over lovely hillsides with orchards and planting fields with gravel pathways for the wagons. This is a family attraction with most groups having an average of two young children.
Today was strawberries so we were taken to a large, neatly laid-out strawberry field that went on forever (apologies to John Lennon). The thing about strawberries is that they grow close to the ground. The farm anticipated the backache involved and had the planting rows mounded up and covered in plastic to make the process as easy as possible. We all went along the rows with our containers and picked the plentiful strawberries. There was some honest selection process, but there was no shortage of ripened fruit. It was fun and felt productive without being crowded. When we were tired we each caught a wagon back, wending our way through the rest of the beautiful farm. I couldn’t help but think that it was the best advertisement for coming back for blueberries or peaches or whatever (we’ve got a peach day already planned).
When you arrive back on the wagon, you exit past a PYO check-out where you are weighed and charged for the produce you picked. The cost per pound is reasonable, but not cheap at $4/pound. I noticed that the checker deducted the weight of our plastic containers, so it felt very fair. Hand-picked fruit seems a bargain at any cost, I must say. There are other opportunities to spend money, ranging from a farm store to animal feed to human food for a simple lunch (hot dogs and burgers). No pressure selling. No up-selling. All very friendly, making you want to come back.
The most impressive thing about my PYO day was the staff and attendee mix. To begin with, the staff was a blend of old hands and young diverse kids who seemed to be summer staff. They were from Europe, Africa, Latin America and Asia. They were all pleasant and accommodating. In fact, they all went above and beyond. But here’s the real thing I noticed. The attendees were the most refreshingly diverse group of families enjoying an outing I’ve ever seen. There were Hispanic families, Indian families, Asian families, Eastern European families, WASP families and even Orthodox Jewish families. I sat while the grandkids rode the rides and I just watched. What I saw were families of all sorts enjoying a simple pleasure day at a farm. It reminded me about how similar we all really are. None of these people probably worked on farms, but they all shared a common heritage that we all share in feeling some sort of connection back to the land. It was palpable that we are all more alike at heart than different. I wish every one of the Trump base could spend a day with their family at this PYO farm. I wish they could all see the common thread I saw and the pure enjoyment that these families were having together.
As I sat looking out over the orchards and fields, I noticed the clouds and the barns and the big sky. I thought to myself that I love a big sky. I also remembered that there are lots of us who have to live together under that big sky. And we all want the same things for our families under that big sky.