Scoop Up Some Summer Fun

  • Visit North Central

rota-farm-ice-creamMalted Milk Ball. Heavenly Mash. Bubble Gum. Cherry Moose Tracks. Cowabunga Crunch. Cotton Candy. Grasshopper…. oh, the tempting choices you face at the window of a local ice cream bar! The flavor options just go on and on … in fact, Kimball Farm in Lancaster offers more than 50 flavors daily! And, at some of these area farms, you can relax and enjoy watching the cows that produced the milk that became the cream and, eventually, ended up in those luscious scoops of ice cream.

But wait! There’s more!
Just as the produce available at farms and farmstands across the region changes with the seasons, so do the flavors of the ice cream — and sundae toppings that add to your snacking pleasure: Peach ice cream in July, or Pumpkin in August. Thinking about more than a cone? The seasons expand into sundaes, too, with strawberry rhubarb topping in the spring, and apple pie cobbler in the fall.

Following a vegan diet? No problem — there are plenty of vegan options, from black raspberry to vanilla bean and chocolate chip cookie dough.

Home Made Pleasures
No matter where you travel in North Central Massachusetts, from spring into the fall, you’ll find terrific ice cream shops ready to provide a refreshing break — and some of them have been greeting (and feeding) visitors for generations!

Murdock Farm in Winchendon dates back to 1885, and has been producing ice cream for over 60 years! While no longer made from the farm’s own milk, Murdock still makes its creamy dessert here. Visitors can watch the farm’s Longhorn and Watusi cattle, along with cows. pigs and goats, roam in the field. The working family farm also has great views, all the way to Wachusett Mountain in Princeton and Mount Monadnock in New Hampshire. While enjoying that cone packed with peanut brittle crunch, black raspberry or “Udderly Mash” ice cream, you just might run into a customer telling his grandkids stories about visiting the farm “when I was your age!”

You can watch the dairy cows in the field, too, at Rota Spring dairy bar in Sterling, while you’re checking out ice cream flavors like Indian Pudding, Ginger, or limited-edition Lavender or Lemon Dream delights. With the ever-changing lineup of flavors, you’ll have to return again and again!

Kimball Farm’s Lancaster shop is one of the company’s four locations; it’s been scooping up delicious ice cream — made at the Kimball Farm store in nearby Westford — for more than a decade. Feeling hungry? While “we all scream for ice cream” when driving to Kimball Farm, there’s lots more to enjoy there, including classic New England lunches of fried clams and scallops, or lobster rolls. And if you love classic and vintage cars, well, this is the place for you! Cruise Nights at Kimball Farm attract hundreds of fascinating vehicles, too! Whether you like your ice cream in a cup, cone, sundae, or float, you’ll find something to tempt your palate here.

Still searching for the perfect flavor to satisfy your sweet tooth? Try the home-made ice cream at Lickity Splitz in Winchendon, or visit The Kitchen Garden in Templeton, Cherry Hill in Lunenburg or Cherry Hill Too in Townsend. Although The Kitchen Garden doesn’t make its own confections, the ice cream scooped up at the dairy bar is made right here in Massachusetts by Bliss Brothers.

Taking a tasty tour of North Central Massachusetts on a warm, sunny day? Here are some great ice cream bars to check out while you see the sights!

Kimball Farm
1643 Lunenburg Rd.
Lancaster, MA
The Kitchen Garden
268 Baldwinville Rd.
Templeton, MA
Murdock Farm
62 Elmwood Rd.
Winchendon, MA
Rota Spring Farm
117 Chace Hill Rd.
Sterling, MA
Cherry Hill Ice Cream
826 Leominster Rd.
Lunenburg, MA
Hollis Hills Farm
340 Marshall Rd.
Fitchburg, MA
Lickity Splitz
231 Main St.
Winchendon, MA
Red Apple Farm
455 Highland Ave.
Phillipston, MA
Bolton Orchards
125 Still River Rd.
Bolton, MA
Cherry Hill Ice Cream Too
53 Main St., Rt. 119
Townsend, MA