Every year, my parents always send me the most beautiful photos of sunflowers from the sunflower field in Pennsylvania near their house. This year, I was lucky enough to be home to enjoy it with them! We headed out to Meadowbrooke Gourds Sunflower Field to check out their incredible sunflower field and little did we know — you can cut the sunflowers and take some home with you! If you’re in the central PA area and interested in checking out some sunflowers for free, read on to learn about visiting Meadowbrooke Gourds in Carlisle, PA!
Visiting The Meadowbrooke Gourds Sunflower Field in Carlisle, PA
Carlisle Sunflowers
First things first — Meadowbrooke Gourds is in Carlisle, PA and you’ll pass the Lindt Chocolate Factory on the way, so make a note to stop there before or after for some delicious chocolate.
They have a big store on property where you can handcrafted gourds made into just about anything you can imagine — Easter rabbits, Santa, jack-o-lanterns, reindeer, dogs, cats….literally anything! They also had a workshop where it looked like you could make your own gourd animal. We bypassed all of that and headed straight for the sunflower fields.
Central PA Sunflower Field
The sunflower fields are sprawling and there were surprisingly not a ton of people there. You can wander into the field and pick as many sunflowers as you want…FOR FREE! Folks, this is insane, because in Hawaii not only can you not pick them, but there is no way in heck that anything is free.
It was such a beautiful day and we enjoyed hanging out and looking at all the beautiful sunflowers, picking a nice bouquet to take home and watching all the bees pollinate the flowers.
For families (or anyone, really), Meadowbrooke Gourds offers a trolley ride through the farm and a little area to take fall-themed photos. Next weekend, September 28th, there will be a big fall festival and after that, I imagine most of the sunflowers will be gone. They were already starting to get a little droopy, so if you’re in central PA and wanting to see sunflowers, head over ASAP!
If you just can’t get enough of sunflowers (like me), you might also enjoy our visit to Waimanalo Country Farms Sunflower Field!