"I'll miss the people who stopped," Harvey Smith told NBC Connecticut in August, after his family announced that Strawberry Hollow Farm would close after 60 years. The word that matters in that quote is stopped. Strawberry Hollow is at 2171 Boston Post Road. You never had to plan a trip there. You saw the pumpkins and mums from the car and pulled over.
That same roadside spot is part of why it's closing. Smith, who turned 84 this summer, said running the farm had become increasingly difficult, and that worries about visitor safety near the busy road also played into the decision. The farm's Facebook page now describes it as a New England gem that delighted families for over 60 years "before closing its doors in 2026." Neither Patch nor NBC Connecticut reported a final day.
So Guilford's October looks different this year. Route 1 still has places to buy a pumpkin. The fall outing itself, with hayrides, a corn maze, apples off the tree and a harvest festival, now happens away from the Post Road, at specific addresses on specific dates. Most of those dates fall between now and the first Sunday in November.
What Route 1 Still Offers, and What It Doesn't
Strawberry Hollow was something you could fit between errands, and parts of that still exist along the shoreline corridor.
Country Farms II is at 3049 Boston Post Road. It runs a Halloween section from early September through Halloween. It carries pumpkins, mums, straw, hay, decorative cabbage, gourds and baked sweets, which is close to the porch-decorating list Strawberry Hollow was known for. Its posted hours are 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday and 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on weekends. The vegetable, pie and herb stand runs from late June to mid-October, so that part of the season is ending about now. After Halloween the operation switches to Christmas trees up to 16 feet, plus wreaths and greenery. It hasn't posted a 2026 opening date for the tree lot yet.
Bishop's Farm Market at 1355 Boston Post Road is open year-round, 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Sunday. It carries farm-grown produce, baked goods, prepared foods and Bishop's own wines and hard cider. It's dependable, but it's a market. The fall festival happens somewhere else.
Gozzi's Turkey Farm at 2443 Boston Post Road is the other seasonal name on this stretch. The most recent posted schedule we found is a 2024 tourism listing showing November 1 through December 24. A visitor review from November 2025 describes a shorter Thanksgiving-week window. If you're counting on them for a Thanksgiving bird, call before November.
What Route 1 is losing is the farm as a place to wander. Smith said nearly everything on his property was built by him and others over the years, and none of the buildings are historic. For decades Route 1 had a hand-built farmstead. Nothing on the corridor has been announced to replace it. That kind of outing has moved inland.
New England Road: The Orchard That Runs on Tickets
Bishop's Main Orchard at 480 New England Road is about 2.75 miles from the Bishop's market on Route 1. It's a different kind of stop. The 2026 Fall Festival runs September 5 through November 1, and the FAQ lists hours as 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily. The same page shows 6 p.m. elsewhere, but the last ticket is sold at 4:30 p.m. either way, and hours depend on the weather. Bishop's posts daily updates at 203-458-PICK.
The festival includes apple picking, a four-acre corn maze, an activity area, a pumpkin patch, the Orchard Store, and rotating food trucks. The orchard's pick-your-own guide puts apples at late August through late October and pumpkins at mid-September through Halloween, with availability changing day to day.
The schedule has a weekday split. The festival and pick-your-own are open daily, but wagon rides, the mega slide and the apple train run only on weekends and holidays. The Cider Hut & Garden, which serves Bishop's hard cider and wine, is also weekend-only. Counting from today, October 4, that leaves four festival weekends:
- October 10–11
- October 17–18
- October 24–25
- October 31–November 1, the festival's closing weekend
If what you want is a quiet weekday walk through the rows, every weekday through October 30 works. If you want the wagon ride, you have those eight days. Bishop's Little Red Barn music and events venue is closed for the 2026 season.
Durham Road: North Guilford's Free Calendar
Dudley Farm at 2351 Durham Road works differently from Bishop's. Many of its fall events are free, the grounds are open daily from dawn to dusk, and most events fall on a single day. The Saturday market runs 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. and includes produce, prepared foods, baked goods, crafts and music. It has four Saturdays left, and the final one is October 31. The holiday market schedule is still listed as to be announced.
The biggest of the farm's fall events is Harvest Day on Saturday, October 17, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., with a rain date of October 24. You can guess the weight of a giant pumpkin to win it, have your picture taken on a vintage tractor, and watch demonstrations of 19th-century skills and crafts. Kids get face painting and pumpkin painting. Dudley Farm is also running a food drive with the Guilford Food Bank, so bring a bag of donations.
Harvest Day falls on the third of Bishop's four festival weekends. A Saturday that starts on Durham Road at 10 a.m. and ends at New England Road before the 4:30 last ticket fits both inland farms into one day, with no stops on Route 1.
The Dated Stretch, Start to Finish
Taken together, Guilford's farm season this year is a short run of fixed dates.
Saturday, October 10
Dudley Farm hosts Raptors of Connecticut, free, from 11 a.m. to noon. The farm asks attendees to register. Bishop's weekend wagon rides and the Cider Hut are running the same day.
Thursday, October 15
The Farmers Market at the Guilford Fairgrounds, 111 Lovers Lane, has finished its 2026 season but is holding one pop-up market from 4 to 6 p.m. That's an hour shorter than the regular Thursday market, and it's the last chance this year to shop the Fairgrounds vendors.
Saturday, October 17
Harvest Day at Dudley Farm, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., with the Guilford Food Bank drive.
Thursday, October 29
Dudley Farm's annual meeting, 6:30 to 8 p.m. at the Yellow Munger Barn, with music by Joe Flood and desserts.
Saturday, October 31, and Sunday, November 1
Dudley Farm's final Saturday market of the season, followed by the last day of Bishop's Fall Festival.
Sunday, November 8
A free North Guilford Cemetery tour from Dudley Farm, 1:30 to 2:30 p.m., with registration requested. After that, the next dates to watch for are Country Farms II's tree lot and Dudley's holiday market, and neither has announced dates yet.
What Happens on Route 1
As of August, Smith said the Strawberry Hollow property is not for sale. Neither outlet reported any future use for the land. When the announcement went up online, hundreds of people commented with memories of the farm. Smith's response was simple: "I can't thank them enough."
Until anything changes at 2171 Boston Post Road, Guilford's October farm season runs on the dates above and ends at the orchard gate on November 1.
If Harvest Day or the last Bishop's weekend brings up questions about your own place, like what the Route 1 corridor means for a property or what a North Guilford lot is really like day to day, I'm glad to talk it through over cider. Dylan Walter works in Guilford and the surrounding shoreline towns year-round. Let's Connect.
