Pingle's Farm Market — Attraction in Clarington

The arrival of autumn and the very pleasant weather, allowing for many hours of sunshine so far, has made it possible to visit Pingle's and see everything the farm has to offer.

The farm is huge and has a lot of activities, so if you're traveling with children, you can definitely reserve four hours or more to spend there. If you're traveling with friends, the rides may not be interesting, but there are other attractions.

The site has two very large parking lots, both of which are not covered but are well-marked for space. The upper parking lot (just inside the entrance on the left) has designated spaces for visitors with disabilities, so it's important to be mindful of this, as the path to the second parking lot isn't stable enough for walking with canes, wheelchairs, or walkers, so caution is required. Parking is free.

Right at the entrance, you'll find the pumpkin shop, the convenience store with a bakery inside, the souvenir and other items market further back, the donut shop (which has some great sweets this time of year), and the men's and women's restrooms. The restrooms are in containers and have stairs, making them inaccessible to customers with disabilities or limited mobility, as the space is small and there are no grab bars.

Admission to the site is paid, and you can buy it online or at the booths on site. Children up to 24 months old are free, after that, they pay the standard admission price.

If you have a pet and are planning on bringing one, your pet will also have to pay to enter the farm. However, I didn't see any pet-friendly facilities, such as water fountains or pet areas, that would justify paying for admission. Another point is that the website states that pets are not allowed in the farm's food area, but I saw more than one dog walking around in the apple area, so I was unsure. I preferred not to bring my dog, especially since it was very hot that day, and the place doesn't have many covered areas.

In the indoor area, there are many food outlets, with a variety of items for all tastes, all very tasty and well-prepared. Prices are a bit higher than in the cities, but that's understandable given the location.

In the harvest area, there are trucks that take you to the points, so you can get off and pick your crops (which are paid by the basket or by the unit, depending on what you're picking), and then you catch the truck at the same point to return to the beginning, or stop for the next harvest. When we went, there were tomatoes, pears, pumpkins, apples, and flowers. Something I didn't understand, and the staff couldn't explain it to me. We wanted to see the apples and take a closer look, but that could only happen if we paid to pick them (we're a family of two adults and a 4-year-old child, so a bag of apples is unaffordable for us; it would spoil). I didn't understand the logic behind not being able to just visit, since you can only take photos with the pumpkins and flowers.

The rides are really cool and are guaranteed fun for the kids.

If you have time, try the corn maze; it's really cool.

There are also restrooms inside, but they're too few for the number of people who go on weekends. The lines are huge, and they were quite unpleasant to use, especially when they ran out of water. I think it's worth looking into the possibility of adding more restrooms, since the space is quite large. Another point is that these restrooms also don't accommodate guests with disabilities or reduced mobility. At the farm entrance, where the main food stands are located, there are two men’s and women’s restrooms, which serve customers with disabilities. They have wide doors and an access ramp. However, they can get quite crowded when the farm is busy.

Considering these points, it is a tour worth visiting, there is a lot of fun for children, the food is good, and these are points that can...

We are a family of five and spent a lot of money and time planning to go on Mother’s Day to pick tulips and enjoy the farm for the day. I pre-purchased two bouquets so that I could pick with my kids as well as pick one for family.

First of all, there are no signs from the parking lot on the grass that lead you into the admissions area. Secondly, signs for pre-purchased online tickets actually lead you into the season passholders line, I had to direct about 10 people behind me to go underneath the line because everyone was very confused. You’re welcome for that.

I also called roughly 5 times in the morning because our tickets claimed noon, and I was trying to find out if they were indeed timed tickets. The last thing I wanted to do was show up with my three young children and be told that we were too early and we could not be let in, especially since it was an hour drive. Since no one picked up, I resorted to the website, which claimed that if we wanted to switch our times, we had to log into the account and do a time change. This led me to believe that it was indeed a time ticket and we could not show up early.

Any farms that we have gone to, we hold a Downey Seasons pass, as well as Brooks and Forsyth, I show up at the opening time, because I have three kids, and we like to beat all of the crowds. However, I wanted to respect the time and we showed up at 11:30 today, thinking that we could spend 30 minutes in the shop and then enter at noon, the time of our ticket. When I went over to the desk for admission, after waiting in the very long line, only to be told that I did not have to wait until noon for my ticket to enter. All of this could’ve been avoided with simple communication like answering a phone or accurate information on the website.

Once we entered, yes, it is definitely a smaller farm, not a huge play area, limited animals, but the shop seemed nice and everything seemed quite clean. I do think they need more bathroom facilities into the further end of the park, but that’s also my opinion.

The disaster happened after I asked for my husband to wait in the over one hour wait for the waggon rides to get into the tulip field, a walking path might be a smart idea for those who do not want to wait for an hour, and I took my kids to the jumping pillows. My four-year-old ran ahead roughly 15 m and went right onto the pillow while I waited with my eight-year-old son in the line for what seemed like the older kids line. My six-year-old was in eyesight at the putting.

Immediately I saw my four-year-old take some of the stones and put them onto the jumping pillow, which caused me to scream out to him and tell him to stop and try to wave him down. Immediately the man running the station, a roughly 60 year-old adult man, walked over to my son After announcing to the crowd of on lookers that he was walking over to him, and told him to put the stones down, and then proceeded to point down at him, screaming to the crowd who he belonged to. I continue to say from where I was standing and waving that he was mine, but that the gentleman was not looking at me and was obviously not paying attention to who the child belong to. I started making my way up to the front, which is when I heard him proclaim to the audience “ it figures, doesn’t even have anyone with him”.

It’s Mother’s Day. I’m a mother. And I was standing right there. I never let my kids go anywhere without me. My kids have never spent a day in daycare. My kids have never spent a day in camp. I do something with them every single day in the summer , after school, weekends, etc.. Boy did you pick the wrong mother to insult and try to shame! I immediately as I was approaching the front said “ how dare you say that to a mother on Mother’s Day” to which he had nothing to say and walked right past me.

Continued in...

This is the first time we have been at this farm. We spent all day and we enjoyed most of our experience.

The farm is around 1 hr drive from Toronto (depending where you start from). The tickets are between $8 and 15 + fees + tax per person depending when you go and whether you buy online or at the door. The parking lot isn't huge, but it was not even half-full when we visited.

We came in early July and they had strawberry, lavender and peas picking. To gather strawberries costs $12 for 2L basket and $20 for 4L. Lavender was $20 and for this money you got nice glass vase and cute scissors. We didn't get to peas, so not sure about that pricing.

We came during high season, but I was pleasantly surprised that there were NOT that many people - we even had peace and quiet when gathering strawberries (lavender was a little bit more busy picture-wise)and there was plenty to pick.

The theritory itself is great and fun for both kids and adults. In addition to fruits/veggies picking, there are huge playground for kids, bicycle carts,  huge bubble station, trampoline (for kids 2+ and adults), farm animal barn, lots of cute photo zones and transfer tractor - all included in the admission price. In terms of amenities, there were lots of clean porta potty toilets across the farm and separate baby nursing and changing "house". On Saturday, they had live music. They also had "souvenir" store.

We also had lunch there (burgers, fries, poutine, home-made lemonade, and sundaes) - all delicious. Food prices are like in average restaurants; but they do NOT accept tips, so that felt nice.

The negatives. First, when we were here during lunch time on Saturday in July, most of the food places didn't work (specially, pizza, coffee, bar and brisket place). There was no operating schedule on website or on site, but it's unclear to me as to why they would be closed during high season. Second, our experience at the store. I bought two  ceramic dining plates ($20+tax each) and my friend bought full shopping basket of miscellaneous items. The store didn't have paper to wrap the plates (even Dollarama offers to wrap their $2 mugs), didn't have bag (even for a fee) to put things into AND the cashier REFUSED multiple times to provide the box (one of many that were just dumped on the floor behind the counter). When you spend so much money at the shop, this is not the service you want to get.

In overall, we spent the whole day at the farm, both adults and kids in our group had fun. We will...