Fall is here, which means it’s time for an apple fritter at Lattin’s Farm

Fall is here, which means it is apple festival time at Lattin’s Country Cider Mill & Farm, a longtime Olympia farm that has been welcoming the community for years.

And its monthlong Applefest, which began Saturday at the 25-acre farm, is off to a roaring start.

The farm sold 3,000 apple fritters Saturday and was busy again Sunday, with people lined up for fritters and more, including apple cider.

At the head of all this is Carolyn Lattin, who has been running the farm for years, along with daughters Debbie and Sherrie.

Forty years ago, when it was more common for people to have an apple tree in their yard, residents would bring their apples to Lattin’s to have them pressed into cider. That has since become a major operation, with the farm buying apples and producing thousands of gallons of cider and delivering it to a network of 200 stores and restaurants, Carolyn Lattin said.

The one-week record for the farm is 7,250 gallons of cider produced, she said.

“We love what we do,” Lattin said.

But the farm is much more than cider and fritters, especially during Applefest. There’s a pumpkin patch, farm animals, a petting zoo (Wanna pet a turkey? You can), inflatable rides for children and, new this year, a corn maze and interactive farm.

“Every year we want to have something new,” said Raime Henke, one of about 30 employees at the farm.

At the interactive farm, children can milk a cow, harvest a few vegetables, pick grapes from a grape arbor, or select a few eggs from the chicken coop.

“The people are wonderful here,” said Tina Grace, who also works at the farm, sometimes in costume as the Easter egg bunny.

Applefest takes place every weekend in October, 9 a.m.-5 p.m at 9402 Rich Road SE, Olympia. The farm, store and pumpkin patch also are open during the week. Admission is free, but it costs $5 to park on the farm property.

This story was originally published September 27, 2015 at 4:12 PM with the headline "Fall is here, which means it’s time for an apple fritter at Lattin’s Farm."