Filmed at my friend Paul Wegzyn’s sunflower field, at Felix’ Family Farm –
“Peter and the Wolf” by Sergei Prokofiev, performed by Leonard Bernstein and the New York Philharmonic Orchestra – downloaded from the Internet Archive of royalty free music.
Come visit the spectacular sunflower field and ever expanding wonderful menagerie of animals at Felix’s Family Farm. The flowers are peaking this weekend! See last week’s post about the sunflower field here
Felix’s Family Farm is located at 20 Lowe’s Lane, just off 1A/Rt. 133, in Ipswich. For tickets and more information, visit the Felix Family Farm website here.
Our Charlotte’s favorite, favorite thing to do at Paul’s farm is to feed and stroke the farm animals. Paul has been daily training all his animals to be super kid-friendly and it is working! I have taken Charlotte to many farms but have never seen animals, especially the alpacas, as comfortable around children as are Paul’s.
There is the Mama Belted Galloway cow, Cookie, and her baby calf Cupcake (Paul thinks of the best names for his mini zoo!).
Come see the latest magnificently beautiful and wonderfully immersive creation by farmer Paul Wegzyn and his Dad (also Paul) at Felix’s Family Farm. Formerly named School Street Sunflowers, the farm with the new name is the same beautiful field, same wonderful family owned operation, only with many new additions. Just to name a few – a healthy, growing and glowing pack of alpacas!, a herd of baby goats <3, live music, picnicking, and yoga classes in a Yoga Yurt!
The field is at its peak this week and next and Paul says it is truly their best field ever. I agree one thousand percent. Row upon row of freshly opened and newly opening flowers will take your breath away. The Farm is utterly enchanting. Bring your family and take lots of photos or just wander through the fields. I hope you will be as enthralled as was I.
Felix’s Family Farm is located at 20 Lowe’s Lane, just off 1A/Rt. 133, in Ipswich. For tickets and more information, visit the Felix Family Farm website here.
In year’s past, the sunflower field has had a theme. One of my favorites from several years back was “Transcendentalism.” This year, the theme is “Family.” Quotes placed throughout the field leave you to stop and take a moment to reflect on our families and how dear they are to us.
Friday Charlotte and I stopped by School Street Sunflowers, as much to see the sunflower fields as to visit their beautiful, sweet, adorable, friendly goats.
Befitting this year’s theme at School Street Sunflowers, which is Light, the entrance to the field is flanked by a pair of Egyptian sphinxes.
To purchase tickets and for more information GO HERE.
This Sunflower field is located at a NEW LOCATION: 20 Lowes Lane in Ipswich.
To get to the field, go to the Dairy Queen in Ipswich (158 High Street) where you will see a sign for the sunflower field and Lowes Lane.
Please drive down all the way to end of Lowes Lane. Parking will be clearly marked.
Expiring sunflower seed heads provide nourishment for flocks of songbirds, including Blue Jays. A Blue Jay’s diet consists mostly of insects, seeds, nuts, and grains. And they love acorns, too (yet another reason to plant oak trees!).
Blue Jays are year round residents throughout their range however, thousands do migrate along the Atlantic Coast and Great Lakes. Their migration is a bit of a mystery and one thought is perhaps that juveniles are more likely to migrate than the adults. The flock visiting the sunflower field this morning was about twenty or so in number. Blue Jay range map
School Street Sunflowers has once again added a wonderful element to their ever expanding ideas about creating a joyfully fun nature experience for visitors. Paul has added three baby Belted Galloway cows and three of the sweetest, most friendly Shetland sheep imaginable. Our bright and curious three year old granddaughter Charlotte was thoroughly engaged with both the sheep and the baby cows but it was Deanna Gallagher’s adorable and super child friendly Shetland sheep that stole our hearts.
We have met the kindest people at School Street Sunflowers and Charlotte and I were completely taken with Deanna, owner of a flock of nine Shetland sheep. Her farm is just around the corner from School Street Sunflowers. Her three sheep that are currently at Paul’s sunflower field are Detective Jimmy Perez, Abu, and Alistair. Jimmy is the leader of the herd, funny, smart, and outgoing, and he is famous in Ipswich as an “escape mastermind. ” You can read about his most recent escapade here: Smart and determined, sheep on the lam knew exactly what they were doing
Shetland sheep are smaller than what you may typically think of as a sheep, more goat like in size. Deanna’s sheep love to be stroked and hand fed the weeds growing in and amongst the sunflowers, especially Common Ragweed. This is the second time over the past week I have learned of or seen Ragweed used in a great way. The first was earlier when I watched a flock of Cedar Waxwings hungrily descend on a patch of Ragweed, looking for tiny insects to devour.
When you go – the baby cows are at the field all day; the Shetland sheep are on the premises from approximately 9am to 1pm. The sunflower trail is one way, which is great for avoiding mashups on the pathway during the pandemic. Paul and his staff all wear masks, so please wear your mask as well. This year, the tractors are not available for playing on because they would need to be disinfected after each use. There are picnic tables and wonderful vignettes for family photos.
School Street Sunflowers is located on School Street in Ipswich, behind the high school. For more information visit –
I am dreaming nightly about sunflowers. Thanks to the mystical beauty found at School Street Sunflowers, it’s no wonder why <3
Nature rarer uses yellow
Than another hue;
Saves she all of that for sunsets,—
Prodigal of blue,
Spending scarlet like a woman,
Yellow she affords
Only scantly and selectly,
Like a lover’s words.
Emily Dickinson
Don’t miss School Street Sunflowers while the field is in full, glorious bloom. There are still hundreds of buds yet to open. Pay online in advance to reserve a time – see below.
Paul Wegzyn is the genius behind School Street Sunflowers
With Paul’s Dad, Paul.
Sunflowers, freshly cut each morning, are for sale. Only $10.00 a half dozen and they last a very good long while.
When you go -the sunflower trail is one way, which is great for avoiding mashups on the trail during the pandemic. Paul and his staff all wear masks, so please wear your mask as well. This year, the tractors are not available for playing on because they would need to be disinfected after each use. There are picnic tables and wonderful vignettes for family photos. I went with three year old Charlotte on a sunny morning and she led the way through the winding trail. Last year, Charlotte only ventured a few feet into the field; this year it was “COMEON, hurry up Mimi!”
Live in the Sunshine, Swim the Sea, Drink the Wild Air – Ralph Waldo Emerson
School Street Sunflowers is located on School Street in Ipswich, behind the high school. For more information visit –
Live music with Paul’s friend and first year Berkeley College of Music student, Jade Hua
Sunflowers are heliotropic when they are young. By the time they mature, sunflowers generally face toward the East throughout the day. The scientific name for Common Sunflowers is Helianthus annus – helios for resembling the sun, anthos for flower, and annus for yearly.
This World is But a Canvas to Our ImaginationPaul Wegzyn at School Street Sunflowers wrote to let us know they will be open to the public, beginning either Sunday or Monday (please check their website/FB/Insta pages for the most up to the minute updates). I met Paul last year, the first year School Street Sunflowers opened to the public, and we became fast friends. I am such a fan of his beautiful sunflower field!
Because of the pandemic, only a limited number of people will be allowed in the field at one time. Tickets will be available online and in person, but buying online will guarantee the date and time you want.School Street Sunflowers is my favorite sunflower field not just because of Paul’s kind, thoughtful nature and beautiful, gorgeous sunflower field, but because he has creatively woven themes into the sunflower experience. Last year, one of the themes was butterflies and this year he has chosen a pandemic perfect subject, transcendentalism. “Live in each season as it passes; breathe the air, drink the drink, taste the fruit, and resign yourself to the influence of the earth.” – Henry David Thoreau. Take a moment to read the signs posted throughout the field.
School Street Sunflowers is located on School Street in Ipswich, behind the high school. For more information visit –
I went to the Sunflowers because…“I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived…”
All photos above are courtesy of Paul Wegzyn
Photos below are of the field when it is was in bloom last summer. See post here –
The brand new beautiful School Street Sunflower field is not to be missed. With gently rolling hills, abundantly planted rows, and a wide, easy path to stroll (easy enough for a two-year-old to navigate), the 5 acres of sunflowers is a wildflower lover’s dream.
Paul Wegzyn and his Dad, also Paul Wegzyn, shared their enthusiasm for this exiting new venture.
There are picnic tables for those who would like to take lunch, and positioned artfully around the fields are photo props such as tractors and bales of hay, but for the most part, the scene is straight up gorgeous sunflowers (and bees!).
The variety planted blooms in 50 to 60 days from when planted and today is day 61. Only a few flowers have droopy seed-laden heads, or have passed. NOW is the time to go as the blooms will all have expired in another two weeks.
Kissable Butterflies
School Street Sunflower Farm
At the corner of Linebrook Road and School Street (for google maps type in – 79 Linebrook Road)
Ipswich, Massachusetts
Open 8am to sunset.
The cost is eight dollars during the week, ten dollars on weekends, and the ticket covers a full day. Wristbands are available if you would like to return the same day. Children under five are free.