Fall is here and Halloween season starting up. That means it’s time for local harvest festivals and pumpkin patches. Here’s a guide to Salem-area farms offering pumpkins, hay rides, corn mazes and more family fall fun. Bauman’s Farm and Garden Harvest Festival at Bauman’s Farm & Garden is already in full swing for the season, with a long list of classic activities, including an animal barn and corn maze and a couple of new things to do. Brand new are a ropes course and a treasure hunt, only available on weekends.  Bauman’s Cider Festival is for one weekend only, Oct. 26-27, and will feature tastings of local ciders and beers. More information about the Cider Festival and tickets will be available online soon.  Dates: Through Tuesday, Oct. 30. Hours: Tuesday-Sunday 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Closed on Mondays. Cost: Weekday tickets $20 for ages 3-54, $15 for 55+. Weekend tickets $30 for ages 3-54, $20 for 55+. Ages 2 and under get in free. Tickets for Friday, Oct. 11 will be the same price as weekend tickets. Tickets are available online. Website: https://baumanfarms.com/  Address: 12989 Howell Prairie Rd. N.E. in Gervais EZ Orchards  All week long at EZ Orchards, HarvestFest offers hay rides, a farm animal petting zoo and a variety of games, from gold mining to ring toss. Also all week long, visitors can browse through the pumpkin patch, sample apple cider and donuts and get lost in a corn maze. On weekends, Harvest Fest has live music and horse rides. Horse rides are available between 12-4 p.m. unless there’s rain. On Saturday, Oct. 19, there won’t be horse rides.  Dates: Through Tuesday, Oct. 30. Hours: Monday-Friday 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., Saturday 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Cost: Weekend admission $12/person, children 2 and under get in free. Weekdays from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. $5/person and weekdays 1 p.m. to 6 p.m. $7/person.  Website: https://www.ezorchards.com/ Address: 5504 Hazelgreen Rd. N.E.  Lily Brandt, 1 1/2, of Stayton, checks out the pumpkins at EZ Orchards Harvest Festival on Oct. 1, 2021. (Amanda Loman/Salem Reporter) Fir Point Farms Paint a pumpkin, play paintball or enjoy apple cider donuts at Fir Point Farms’ Harvest Festival. With an all day wristband, festival visitors can wander through the farm’s 6-acre corn maze, ride the Polka Dot Express train and pick out pumpkins at the pumpkin patch. The festival also has a food court and beer garden on the weekends.  Dates: Through Sunday, Oct. 27. Hours: Wednesday-Sunday 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Cost: All day wristbands are $28. Individual activities or games are $7 or $8. A handful of activities are free for visitors.  Website: https://www.firpointfarms.com/  Address: 14601 Arndt Rd. in Aurora Fordyce Farm A Fall Fest with apple picking, a hay fort and a pumpkin patch starts this weekend at Fordyce Farm, just east of Salem. On weekdays, visitors can browse the farm store and corn maze, or stock up on apples for $1/lb and stop by the bakery. During the weekends, Fall Fest will have food and beer trucks, hay rides and, starting on Oct. 11, a haunted corn maze on Friday and Saturday nights. Dates: Opens Saturday, Oct. 5. Hours: Monday-Saturday 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., Sunday 12-6 p.m. Cost: Free admission for entrance and all activities except for the corn maze, haunted corn maze and corn cannon.  Website: https://www.fordycefarminc.com/  Address: 7023 Sunnyview Rd. N.E. Quentin Pollard, 7, of Salem, jumps off of hay bales into a pit of hay at Fordyce Farm on Oct. 1, 2021. (Amanda Loman/Salem Reporter) French Prairie Gardens For its Pumpkin Patch Festival, French Prairie Gardens has a long list of activities to choose from, including a farm ninja course, mega slides, barrel train rides and pig races. Those activities and more are available to weekend visitors, along with access to sunflower fields, tractor rides and hay and corn mazes. Many activities are only on weekends, but weekday visitors can still meet farm animals and try their hand at an obstacle course or a rope maze.  Dates: Saturday, Oct. 5- Sunday, Oct. 27 Hours: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Cost: A weekday pumpkin patch pass is $17.99 and includes access to most of the festival activities. A weekend general pass is $19.99 and provides access to a limited number of activities. An all-inclusive weekend wristband is $29.99 and provides access to all activities. Children ages 1 and under get in free. Tickets are available online.  Website: https://fpgardens.com/  Address: 17673 Prairie Rd. N.E. in St. Paul Greensbridge Farm Greensbridge Farm has classic fall activities like a corn maze, hay rides and farm animals. The farm’s harvest activities also include duck races, a hay pyramid, hamster wheels and slides. For free, people can walk around the pumpkin patch, do a little hay maze and visit farm animals. More information is available on the farm’s Facebook. Dates: Opened Saturday, Sept. 28. No end date available online.Hours: 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.Cost: Weekday bracelets (Monday-Thursday) $14. Weekend bracelets (Friday-Sunday) $16. Tokens for individual activities $3 each. Children ages 1 and under get in free.  Website: https://www.facebook.com/greensbridgegardens  Address: 3730 Jefferson Scio Dr. S.E. in Jefferson Contact reporter Madeleine Moore: [email protected]. A MOMENT MORE, PLEASE– If you found this story useful, consider subscribing to Salem Reporter if you don’t already. Work such as this, done by local professionals, depends on community support from subscribers. Please take a moment and sign up now – easy and secure: SUBSCRIBE. The post A slice of local harvest festivals around Salem appeared first on Salem Reporter.