It was a Saturday morning about 6 months ago and we found ourselves asking, “What to do? What to do?” We are constantly looking for weekend outings that are 1. local and inexpensive and 2. educational and fun. Suddenly, on that particular Saturday, I remembered hearing about a quaint little farm where you could pick your own eggs and I started doing a little research. A few minutes later we were on our way to Lake Meadow Naturals in Ocoee for the first time. Now it’s one of our favorite places.
Lake Meadow Naturals is a hidden gem in the Ocoee/Winter Garden area and once you find it, you’ll never want to leave. It’s set back in a gorgeous plot of land with rolling hills and beautiful, old trees. The farm, which has hosted guests as well-known as Emeril, offers poultry, eggs, produce and meat produced at their location along with imported cheeses, pastas, sauces and all sorts of other goodies including jams, jellies and pickled goods for sale in the farm store.
My favorite aspect of Lake Meadows is the “Pick Your Own Eggs” option. This is only available on Saturday mornings and is on a first come, first served basis. You can bring your own carton or pay a little bit extra for one while you are there. After letting the farm store employees know that you would like to PYO, a LMN employee will then take you to the hen-house and show you how to gather your very own farm fresh eggs. Sometimes the hens are actually on top of the eggs and we get to reach under to collect them, and other times they are just sitting in the nest boxes waiting to be picked.
Our 2-year-old son, Everett, loves to go in and see the chickens and has gotten more and more gentle while gathering the eggs each time. We always make the point to use the eggs the next morning and talk about how we gathered the eggs from the farm and now they are helping to make our breakfast. I love teachable moments any time I can get them – not to mention getting kids in the kitchen at the same time!
A visit to Lake Meadow Naturals is a quick, easy and fun field trip on a Saturday morning if you are looking to support local business not spend an arm and a leg. Some weekends we also love to add in a bike ride along the West Orange Trail to our morning outing since it is also just a stone’s throw away. Check out all of the trails and playgrounds here!
