Sooner than we’d like, the days will shorten and the weather will cool, leaving us with less time to enjoy outdoor projects for the home and garden. However, autumn brings with it a bevy of events that decorating, crafting, gardening and food enthusiasts will love. Below you’ll find a schedule for some of the season’s most worthy art fests, home shows and gardening affairs. After all, your home’s interior can always use a fresh decorating touch, and the season for eatin’ will be here before we know it.
August 28: Central Ohio Garden Tour
Various locations in Central Ohio
Sat. 9 a.m.–6 a.m.
The Columbus Landscape Association will premier the first-ever Central Ohio Garden Tour this weekend. View 16 beautiful properties, featuring unique settings and breathtaking display gardens, and leave with inspiration for your own home. Custom backyard designs and fascinating tree and shrub displays are just some of the tour's highlights.
September 10–12: Best of Fall Home Show
Ohio Expo Center, 77 E. 17th Ave., Columbus, OH 43211
614/461-5256
Fri. noon–8 p.m., Sat. 10 a.m.–8 p.m., Sun. 10 a.m.–6 p.m.
Gather ideas for redecorating at the Home Idea stage, and then head to the Home Improvement Expo to find what you’ll need to complete your projects. Those already looking forward to spring should check out the landscape displays, with concepts and demonstrations from the area’s best landscapers.
September 18–Oct. 24: Pick-Your-Own Pumpkins at Young’s Jersey Dairy
Young’s Jersey Dairy, 6880 Springfield-Xenia Rd., Yellow Springs, OH 45387
937/325-0629
Sat.–Sun. noon–6 p.m.
Not only do pumpkins provide a fun craft activity for the family, but they’re one of the season’s most versatile decorations, too. Stop by the Dairy for a wagon ride out into the pumpkin field, where you can select the perfect gourds — think table settings, porch adornments and bookshelf enhancers. The field is stocked with thousands of pumpkins, so come prepared with décor ideas.
September 22–25: Apple Butter-Makin' at Sauder Village
Sauder Village, 22611 St. Rte. 2, Archbold, OH 43502
800/590-9755
Tues.–Fri. 10 a.m.–3:30 p.m., Sat. 10 a.m.–5 p.m.
This weekend, stop and smell the cider. For 34 years, the folks at historic Sauder Village have celebrated the season with this popular event, where you’ll learn about apple butter, cider pressing and more. Later, stop by a pick-your-own apple farm and then try your hand at some cider and apple-butter making of your own.
September 24–26: RIPE! Food and Garden Fest
Cleveland Botanical Garden, 11030 East Blvd., Cleveland, OH 44106
216/721-1600
Fri.–Sun. 10 a.m.–8 p.m.
Celebrate Ohio’s commitment to local food with a unique twist on traditional harvest festivities. Learn what, when and how to grow — and eat — consciously, enjoy autumnal foods with the very people that create them and take home ideas about local food, slow food and the farm-to-fork movement.
October 8–10: Bob Evans Farm Festival
Bob Evans Farm, 10854 St. Rte. 588, Rio Grande, OH
800/994-3276
Fri.–Sun. 9 a.m.–5 p.m.
Those who appreciate a country-home aesthetic simply can’t miss this annual fest, held on the famous Bob Evans homestead’s beautiful rolling acres. Crafters from across the state and beyond sell everything you’ll need to give your interior, porch and backyard a touch of southern living, wherever you call home
** Do you have a favorite fall home and garden event? The first 10 readers to leave a comment will win two tickets to the Best of Fall Home Show in Columbus.