Latest / WashCo Insider / Annelise Mox & Lauren Emminger
Transcript
- speaker-0: Welcome back to this episode of The Washcoat Insider. Well, we are already in full swing of fall here in Washington County, and if fall festivals and seasonal fun on the farm is on your mind, you're gonna want to listen up. With me today I have Annalise Mox and Lauren Eminder from Trax Farms here to talk all about the farm's upcoming fall festival, plus a little bit of insider information about this iconic Washington County farm staple. We'll get into it all when we come right back. Well ladies, I'm so excited that you're here. Thank you so much for coming into the studio today. speaker-1: I think I see I speaker-2: Happy to be speaker-0: Well, I have a lot of childhood memories of the Trax Farms Fall Festival. So this is a special one for me. I mean, I've been there for kindergarten field trips, I've been there with my family all the time. So really, really excited. I know you guys are gearing up for quite a time. It's a lot of work, but I'm sure it's very rewarding. So do you guys want to just introduce yourself real quick and your role at Trax Farms? Annalise, let's start with you. speaker-1: Hi, my name is Annalise Mox and I'm Tracks Farm Markets Marketing Coordinator. Yeah, I've been working here for about three years now and it's been great. speaker-0: Good. speaker-2: And then I'm Lauren Eminger. I'm the event coordinator. I actually ⁓ just recently started this past January, so this is my first fall fest but I'm really excited. I'm speaker-0: So excited for you. So do you guys have a background in kind of like farm or agriculture? Like how did you kind of get here? speaker-1: Yeah, so I actually grew up kind of the same as you going to Tracks for Market my entire life. ⁓ and then whenever it was time to find a job, I found the job opening for the marketing and events coordinator. ⁓ and I did that for two years until we brought Lauren on in January and she's been a great addition to the team and really helpful along the way. speaker-0: Okay. So any agriculture for you? speaker-2: No, I just graduated this past summer or two summers ago I guess now. And I was just looking for a job and yeah, I just stumbled upon tracks. It was a crazy 'cause I've seen their fall fest in the past on social media. But like I've never been or anything and then yeah, I just applied and it's been a great fit. It's been a great place to work at and yeah. speaker-0: I bet it's so fun. Yes. I absolutely love going there. And we'll get into the Fall Festival in just a little bit, but I kinda wanna get into some history and things that people might not know about Trax Farms. You it's so iconic and like you said, it's blowing up on social. All the like Pittsburgh foodie girlies have been there recently, which makes me a little jealous. But ⁓ I kinda wanna get into the significance of Trax Farms because I feel like not a lot of people know that that farm is a hundred and fifty years old. So a little bit of ex you know, interesting history there. speaker-1: Yeah, there's a lot of history behind the farm. ⁓ and it all really comes down to the Tracks family and just carrying on the tradition of running this farm solely under the family's kind of, you know, power and stuff like that. ⁓ and they're the people who have kept it going for the past a hundred and fifty years through their business decisions. yeah. speaker-0: Well, that is quite the legacy. W what kinda like what does it mean to you guys kinda to be a part of that? To be a part of, you know, this family endeavor and you know, it's so important, you know, we have agricultural heritage here in Washington County. Like what does that mean to be a part of that for the last like hundred fifty years to either of you? speaker-1: Yeah, I feel a great sense of pride working at Tracks. I know I'm carrying on this tradition that so many before me and so many after me have, you know, had a part of their lives and stuff like that and just really being part of those building those family traditions and memories. speaker-0: And Lauren, just like we just mentioned, that f tracks has like exploded over the past couple of years. You know, it was big when we were kids. ⁓ but what's kinda your impression of, you know, the social side of things and, you know, how big it's gotten, especially it's your first fall festival, but you know, it's huge, it's crowded. speaker-2: Yeah, it's really exciting. just right obviously going in it was like, you know, like, ⁓ wow, like I saw this on social media, so it must be, you know, pretty big and like exciting stuff or whatever. But yeah, like I you know, like since literally my interview they've all like literally welcomed me like family. It's been really great. ⁓ yeah, and you can like just see that even like with our customers that come, like you can tell like Yeah, like even customers are family to us, you know what I mean? You can really I feel like tell when you're there. speaker-0: Absolutely, 'cause these have been I mean, just like me, these have been people that have been coming to tracks for their entire lives. You know, I grew up like going with my mom and like I said, my kindergarten field trip was there. So it's a very familiar and comforting place for a lot of people. So that's quite the legacy. And you two are fellow, you know, kind of marketing girlies. I wanna talk about agritourism because that has been, you know, in the headlines and news all the time recently. ⁓ What is kind of your impression of how important agritourism is ⁓ to this area? speaker-1: Yeah. ⁓ like you kind of mentioned, farming has always had a massive part in this area of Pennsylvania. and agro tourism has really given the opportunity for people who do not have a ⁓ history with agriculture or kind of know the traditions or how farms work to kind of explore it for themselves in a very manageable way. So when you come to the farm for an event, yes, you're coming for something specific, but you're also seeing our homegrown vegetables and stuff like that, ⁓ along with experiencing this great event that, you know, carries on the farming tradition. speaker-0: Yeah, it's a family friendly endeavor. Any insight on agro tourism, Lauren? speaker-2: I would say pretty much what she said. Honestly I don't think I really have anything else. speaker-0: Yeah. 'Cause it is we were just talking before we s hit record, like that's the the thing that gives us kind of that edge up on Pittsburgh, not that I'm biased or anything. But people are traveling. You know, Sorghol's in ⁓ Wexford is really big. People travel from over there, but Trax Farms, Simmons, ⁓ all of our farms here in Washington County are just as big. Why do you guys think that people should travel from across the region to come to Trax Farms kind of specifically and experience that level of tourism agro tourism, I guess I should add on. speaker-1: ⁓ I really think it comes down to the fact that we put so much like time and effort into continuing this education and agro tourism for the surrounding communities. I think we really put every member of our team puts their blood, sweat, and tears to continuing that education and making sure these traditions continue ⁓ throughout history and especially in the modern day where you might not be as hands-on with farming and stuff like that, just to kind of get an experience. speaker-0: Yeah. And I guess you kinda hit on my next question, which was how do you see the farm evolving? ⁓ this is to either of you, you know, you've got one hundred and fifty years behind you. How do you see from I guess either from a marketing perspective or just in general, the farm evolving throughout the next hundred and fifty years? speaker-1: I think by continuing our traditions that we've had since for the past a hundred and fifty years while also incorporating new things and ⁓ continuing our marketing and staying true to ourselves while also branching out and evolving with the current times and, you know, ⁓ culture of the area. speaker-0: Yeah, and people are yearning for that. They're like yearning for, you know, getting out on the farm and showing, you know, grandparents are showing their grandkids. I'm sure you guys see every day on the farm, like, this was here when I was little and you know, those kind of connections that we're making. ⁓ so to kind of segue into that, what does a day in the life for the two of you on the marketing side look like marketing this, you know, Washington County gem, this, you know, 150 year old icon? Like what what does a day in the life of that iconic brand look like for you? speaker-1: Our days are pretty busy, I have to definitely say that. ⁓ but since TRACS has grown into such a crazy business where we have a deli, we have a bakery, we have a gift shop, we have a grocery department, a greenhouse, a wine shop, an antique loft, all that good stuff. Our job is to really make it known that we have all of these things and you know, really attract people and show them kind of why we're different and why we stand out and why we feel so passionate about the place and why we love it so much. speaker-0: Absolutely. We've been seeing a lot of that on kind of the events side of things. You guys have a lot of events. You get a stacked schedule throughout the years. And I try to keep up on your website. I'm like, ⁓ they added like four more new things that all come in on a Monday. You've got, you know, events, you've got strawberry festival, blueberry picking, all sorts of things. ⁓ how has that been with the events and trying to keep up with all that? speaker-2: It's really busy. I'm always planning the next event it feels like. I feel like right you know, right before even Fallfest starts, like I'm on to, you know, Christmas, you know what I mean? So it's definitely still always going, you know what I mean? speaker-0: Yeah. Do you have a favorite event that you've been planning or have planned in the last year? speaker-2: Fall fest for sure, I'm really excited for that. This this one, it's the biggest one. ⁓ but this past year I would say we did a paint and sip and I think that one was really fun. We did like it was like a spin of I guess kind of Pickles Burg. So we stick with that theme. And we painted ⁓ mason jars. So like a pickle pickle jar. It was just really fun. So that was probably one of my favorite things. speaker-0: Well now I'm sad I missed that. I'm just gonna have to come back to the next one. You're just gonna have to play the next one. I'm putting in requests. Yes. ⁓ so we already kind of ch talked about I guess that was my next question on our agenda here, is why people keep coming back to tracks. ⁓ but I kinda wanna reiterate like, is it the pro produce? Is it the products? Everyone has always talked about, like, even my family is like, we have to go get the corn. Like the corn, it really is superior, I do have to say. Is it like that atmosphere? Is it the desire to kind of get away from the city? Like, what do you hear? What's your kind of impression? speaker-1: I think it's the fact that we are growing our own homegrown produce and I have heard, you know, from a few sources our corn might be a little bit better than the type or the tomatoes or stuff like that. So I think the quality product as well as making it attractive and appealing for people to come back to. And like I said, rooted deeply in tradition and that kind of stuff, I think the grandkids are gonna bring their grandkids one day, you know what I mean? So I think it's really growing up with the farm as well. speaker-0: It's legitimate. Yeah. ⁓ I love that. Growing up with the farm. We really did. ⁓ so speaking of growing up with the farm, why do you think and I know this like kinda isn't marketing related, but I just wanna ask, why do you think it's important for people to keep supporting their local farmer in tracks farms or any sort of local farm? speaker-1: I mean, kind of like we touched on, kind of like you just said, it is your local farm. This is, you know, locally grown vegetables in your backyard. Even if you're twenty minutes down the road, it's still a lot closer than imports would be or stuff like that. So I think by continuing to support a small business with homegrown produce and really just continuing their values would really speaker-0: ⁓ support. Love that. So now that fall is coming, what kind of products can we look forward to that's been grown on the farm? I know apples are really big. Apples the apple cider is famous. What's like the most popular things you guys hear about during fall festival, especially? speaker-1: Definitely our apple cider. ⁓ that's a big one. Our homegrown apples as well. on top of that, our bakery starts pumping out a lot of new like fun fall treats. ⁓ so our ⁓ famous butter cookies or get the fall makeover with the pumpkins and the sprinkles and they're so good. And we started doing like more decorative like cookie cakes and a bunch of other like faster service ⁓ foods, like fun festival foods and stuff like that in our deli department. So there's a lot to experience. speaker-0: The deli. Wait, we gotta talk about the deli for a second because I got on a kick maybe two years ago now where my friend and I we just came to the d we came down, we're like we're hungry, we could go to the deli. You guys have this sandwich, I think it's called the gobbler or something like that. I came back, I'm kind of embarrassed to say this. I came back like four days in a row. speaker-1: No, it's serious. speaker-2: pretty much I had to like stop myself but there for a little bit ev like every day on lunch I was going and getting a sandwich. Like I like okay I kinda have to slow down. Like I don't really have to speaker-0: I know and No, I ba I had to ban myself from the deli for a while, but then I came back like another year later and I was like, Mm, the ban has been lifted. That sandwich is legitimate. All of them are good. The soups are really good too. Yes, absolutely. Big fan of the soup over here. Okay, so let's move on to the fall festival. ⁓ tell me a little bit I wanna get some rundown on the history 'cause I actually don't know this. For as long as I've been going to tracks, how long's the fall festival going been going on? speaker-1: So the Tracks family actually started selling and growing pumpkins in 1969. During that time, the whole farm operation is obviously a lot smaller than as we know it today. So, like in 1983, we're selling pumpkins, but now we're making our homemade candy apples. ⁓ in 1990, that's when we introduced the pick your own pumpkin field and the hay rides and the corn maize. So throughout the years that they have been selling from the 60s. ⁓ they've kind of just add a little bit more every year to the grandiose ⁓ festival we have nowadays. speaker-0: And the question is, what else can we possibly add at this point? Right. speaker-1: Right. ⁓ we figured a few things out. Yeah. speaker-0: ⁓ Well, I'm pretty excited. I I will be down there a couple of times. I have very fond memories at the Fall Festival with my mom growing up. So it's always a very nostalgic time for me and definitely for a lot of people too, people who are coming down and visiting from all across the region. ⁓ so we'll get into kind of what might be new for twenty twenty six, but I kind of want to give people beyond the history a high level overview of what they can expect if they're coming down for the fall festival for the very first time maybe. So what can people expect when they come down? speaker-2: ⁓ yeah. So speaker-1: And speaker-2: I'm so sorry. ⁓ there's ⁓ so much to do at Tracks, obviously during our fall festival. We have kids' race scooters, ⁓ you can challenge your family and your friends. ⁓ you can climb in our pumpkin bins. ⁓ there's lots of ham on farm-inspired fun. ⁓ we also have our classic photo ops th all throughout our farm, obviously. ⁓ speaker-0: You're good. speaker-2: We also have a great selection of from our ticketed activities. So once you buy the ticket, you can go up ⁓ on our hill. So that's where our pick your own pumpkins will be. Our corn maize is up there. We'll have a couple vendors too. ⁓ and it's just like gonna yeah, gonna be a lot of fun. And then obviously in our greenhouse cafe we'll have our apple slushies or cider, apple cider slushies, and then hot and cold cider. We'll also have our candy and caramel apples there too. ⁓ and yeah, it's gonna be a lot of fun. speaker-0: I'm so glad you mentioned the Slushie. speaker-2: ⁓ I'm really excited for this last week. speaker-0: I was really hoping they would come back this year because I think I was tell I think it was Chase actually. I was telling him, I like, Wait, they have these slushies. The hot the hot cider is really, really good, don't get me wrong. But the slushies speaker-2: really excited. I've never even heard of it until track. Yeah. Yeah. I was like, this is so fun and exciting. speaker-1: Yeah. speaker-0: It's pretty unique. ⁓ so it's a whole day of activities that people can expect. Absolutely. Yes. I also want to shout out Beyond the Activities and obviously the deli, which we have to mention. ⁓ there's an antique loft in Trax Farms, right? Yes. Yes, and so don't skip the farm market, don't skip the baked goods. The zucchini bread is really, really good. So don't skip don't ever skip that. what might so beyond all the activities, do we have anything new for twenty twenty six? speaker-1: Yes there is. speaker-2: Yeah, ⁓ our deli actually came out with this ⁓ chicken and waffle cone. Yeah. Unfortunately not getting serious, yeah. Yeah. ⁓ speaker-0: You're kidding. I might have to take the day off tomorrow. I might have to head down to tracks. Yeah. speaker-2: Definitely. I'm really excited to try it. speaker-0: ⁓ boy. And then you guys have a packed schedule. I think we have the schedule here of we have some food trucks coming, some really good food trucks, and then we have a live music schedule, right? Yes. Do we wanna hit some highlights, just like high level of maybe live music? Anything you guys wanna read off that people might be excited about? speaker-1: I think maybe if you stick to the vendor. speaker-2: Yeah. speaker-0: Yeah, we can talk about vendors too. Here I've got the list. So we got quite a few food trucks that are coming on all different days, correct? speaker-2: Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. So every weekend it will switch up a little bit. Some will come back, some will stay. Okay. ⁓ we'll have Tom's Diner. He'll he'll be there. Yeah. Very iconic. and then so we'll also have from Three Kids Barbecues a new food truck that's coming. We're really excited to have them. ⁓ we'll have Fat Cat Mac Attack ⁓ come, Tambolinis. So we have like a speaker-0: Good one. speaker-2: Yeah, a bunch of different food trucks that are coming. And then we'll also have some of our ⁓ you know, fall festival staples like our funnel cakes from Peter Township's band. Boosters are coming, we'll have kettled popcorn, roasted nuts, and then a coffee truck that'll be there ⁓ every week. So yeah. ⁓ speaker-0: That's quite the lineup. I'm gonna have to limit my visits to the Fall Festival. ⁓ my god, I'll gain ten pounds. Okay, so we've kinda got through the I next question was actually about the Apple Cafe, but I'm glad we covered that. So before we kind of wrap up and get into some rapid fire questions, ⁓ is there anything we missed? Anything else you guys wanna highlight about the Fall Festival or twenty twenty six in general for tracks? speaker-2: No, come every weekend. We'd love to have. speaker-1: ⁓ you know, the farm always continues to grow. Even after long after fall festival, then come our live Christmas trees, then come our events that we do all throughout the winter to kind of cure capping fever inside of our greenhouse when we're empty. So Tracks always has something going on long after Fall Festival and long before fall festival. It's really a cool place to be and ⁓ type of family business you don't see anymore now. speaker-0: Yeah, and it's open year round, correct? Yes. Okay. That I feel like that's important to mention because some farms close, but tracks is open if you gotta get your Christmas stuff. I gotta go. They have such a nice market. I always I'll spend like 45 minutes just like browsing all the like decor and stuff and whoever I'm with is like, Can we go? I'm like, no, we we gotta look at stuff. We gotta We gotta go through the whole market. Don't worry. Okay, so we've got some rapid fire questions that I think might be fun to answer. So either of you favorite activity at the festival? speaker-1: I really love taking a hay ride, and that is actually what gets you to our corn maze and the pick your own pumpkin patch. Because when you're taking the hay ride, it starts at the bottom of our field and actually takes you up this giant massive hill where you can see all of the sprawling land and the farm to our lesser known about pavilion. ⁓ and like I said, up there is where you're going to find the pick your own pumpkin patch and the corn maze and all of that good stuff. So I think that's definitely number one during the fall for me. speaker-0: So mistakes. speaker-2: I'm ⁓ obviously don't have a favorite yet, but I'm really excited for the corn maize. And then also we'll ⁓ have some animals, like some pigs, and so I'm kind of excited to see them at the farm 'cause obviously we're a produce farm so don't have animals. But I'm really excited for them to come in. ⁓ yeah. Make their little helmet tracks for a little bit. Yeah. speaker-0: ⁓ yay. Okay. Favorite thing to eat. speaker-1: ⁓ that's a tough one. It really is. ⁓ geez. I I hate to say our apple cider slushies, but it really is the apple cider slushies. Yeah. And like we were kind of talking about before, a good old classic deli sandwich for lunch with a s apple cider slushie, I'd say that's kind of like my go-to. speaker-0: Don't speaker-2: I would just say our classic butter cookies. I love them. They're really addictive. speaker-0: ⁓ the Trocks Bakery is so good. Yeah. speaker-2: They're they kill it every time. speaker-0: Yeah. Actually, fun fact, my best friend worked at Tracks when we were in high school and sometimes I would call her and I'd be like, Hey, they got anything new in the bakery? She's like, Can you stop calling me about this? I'm like, Mm-hmm. Like tell me what color the butter cookies are t this week. Come on now. You're gonna give me some insider information. Yes, absolutely. Okay. Is there a food truck either of you are particularly looking forward to? I feel like we just kinda hit on that. speaker-1: I am really excited for this food truck called Frankenfred that we have, usually towards the end of the season, mainly because the truck is painted with like classic monster designs and it's always just really cool like leading into the Halloween season, I feel like. Because we're not too spooky on the farm, so I feel like that food truck adds a little spooky to the Halloween season. speaker-0: Yeah. speaker-2: I'm really excited for rollies. I've never I've actually haven't heard of them before. I'm really excited. They're ⁓ like egg rolls. ⁓ really? Yeah, it's like so different and so I love egg rolls. ⁓ I do too. I'm really excited. speaker-0: ⁓ I'm gonna have to stay away. Okay. This is a good one. Most underrated product in the farm market. speaker-1: Ooh, that's a tough one. speaker-0: For me it's absolutely the zucchini bread, I feel like. speaker-1: Yes. For me it's actually our cucumbers. And I know that's so specific, but I really noticed a difference when I used Trax homegrown cucumbers to make dill pickles this year as opposed to other ones. The f they just like were perfectly ripe and really made a nice pickle, so I'm gonna go with our cucumbers. speaker-0: Yeah. speaker-2: I don't know. I would I feel like our ⁓ what is that Luguini salad in the I really like that. I don't know why. That's also something I get sometimes at lunch. I don't know why, but I love it. speaker-1: We need some. Yes, our deli makes homemade salads and a the linguini salad is definitely one of it's like a better pasta salad. speaker-0: Yeah. I don't think I've had that one, but I have rated the Trax Farm Deli on quite a few occasions. Yes. Okay, you just said corn maze, so I wanna know what the fastest you think you could complete the corn maize in. speaker-2: Lovely tally. speaker-1: ⁓ and you've never been in it before. speaker-2: I've never even been in it. I I don't know. I'm gonna say Five minutes? Is that like a long time? Is it quick? I don't know. Okay, cool. Five minutes then. Okay, yeah, five minutes. speaker-1: That's reasonable. ⁓ speaker-0: Well, you're setting the time to beat publicly on the record. Five minutes if you can beat it. speaker-1: Better beat it, yeah. speaker-2: We'll have to we'll have to try it next week. Yeah. That's our plan next week to go up, so speaker-1: I'm speaker-0: follow up on the podcast here so okay ladies well that is all I have for you. Where can people stay up to date on all things tracks farms, the fall festival, where can they buy those hate ride tickets to? Yeah. speaker-1: So we always like to say you can follow our tracks. We are at Trax Farm Market on all of your big social media platforms. ⁓ And for Fall Festival information and tickets, you can head to our website, just tracksfarms.com and under the Fall Festival tab. speaker-0: Awesome. Well, this has been so fun. I'm so excited about the Fall Festival. It's so nostalgic. It's so fun. If you've never been, you have to get out to Trax Farms. It's just the perfect day out on the farm. So thank you, ladies, so much for coming on today. We're we're six so excited to see you in a couple of weeks here. Okay. Trax Farms Fall Festival is every weekend from September 19th to October 25th between 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. So make sure you get down there to get on in on all the far fall far and ⁓ my gosh, that's a tongue twister. I'm just gonna read it again. Trucks Farms Fall Festival is every weekend from September nineteenth to October twenty-fifth between ten AM and five PM. So make sure you get down there to get in on all the fall for fun on the farm. Otherwise, this is all for this episode of The Washcoat Insider. As always, thank you for watching and listening and we'll see you next week.