Local farms celebrate pumpkin harvest with family fests

NORTHEAST WIS. – White, yellow and striped pumpkins are making their grand debut this fall at farms in northeast Wisconsin and the Upper Peninsula, but orange continues to be the most popular color, pumpkin farmers say.

“We have roughly 10 different kinds of pumpkins. Our newest ones this year are the Pumpkin Indian Doll, which has a flatter top, blocky shape with very deep ribs. Pumpkin Thumpkin has a hard, thick large stem and is uniquely flattened on top. Pumpkin Blaze is my new favorite. It is a medium size pumpkin, yellow with orange stripes.” said Brenda Swanson, co-owner of Big Red Barn in Niagara, where a fall festival is drawing folks from miles away.

Agricultural tourism, or “agritourism” as it’s also called, is important to Wisconsin’s culture and heritage, said Secretary Randy Romanski of the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection, in recognizing National Farmers Day on Oct. 12. Wisconsin farmers produce a $116.3 billion agriculture industry that has contributed about one in 10 jobs, he said. He thanked farmers for “serving as the backbone of our communities and supplying the food, fiber and fuel that support our daily lives.”

In Abrams, pumpkins are second only to strawberries in importance at Berryland Farm. “Stacker pumpkins are real popular,” said Andy LeFebre, son of the family farm’s owners. The pumpkins will be available until Nov. 1, when they’ll be hauled away to feed animals.

Berryland, located at 5687 Steinkraus Lane in Abrams, planted about 30,000 pumpkin seeds this year, about two acres more than last year, LeFebre said.

The dry fall helped the pumpkin bounty as pumpkins don’t like wet feet, he said.

Berryland’s pumpkin fest, open 9 a.m. to 5:30 daily, is also an excuse to celebrate autumn weather. A play area, hayrides and weekend face painting sessions also are offered at $4 per person over age two. A flat $12 weekend fee includes a hayride, activities and any size pumpkin.

The child-friendly haunted hayride brings people to the pumpkin patch where they can pick any pumpkin right off the vine, Suzanne LeFebre said. Pre-picked pumpkins also are available.

“It’s fun. It’s worth it,” she said. “I married into the family, but when we decided to take over the business, the pumpkin path is what sold me. The first child that runs up after all your hard work just makes it worth it.”

In Wallace, Mich., the Hofer Farm and Pumpkin Patch aims to please young and old alike, with three different corn mazes and a pumpkin patch. A lighted drive-thru enchanted corn maze is new this year and wide enough for any car to travel, said Joan Hofer, co-owner with husband Doug. “We have a lot of nursing homes that come up with residents,” she said. “We had a three-week-old baby and a 99-year-old lady.”

Hofer’s daughter Kimberly created the lighted maze with thousands of lights strung between corn stalks. “It’s very family oriented; nothing scary,” Hofer said. “There are big spider webs on farm buildings on the silo, and she has a graveyard in the yard as you go out.”

Hayrides on the weekends run every hour from the back of the house for $1 per person, and provide a tour of the sunflower garden, pumpkin patch and woods. To find the farm at W5567 County Road 345, turn east off of U.S. 41 on County 346 and look for the huge inflated pumpkin, Hofer said.

The farm is open seven days a week from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. until Halloween. The night hours for the lighted corn maze are 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday nights in October except Halloween. The cost is $10 per car. Two other corn mazes on Hofer’s farm are free, she said, including a mini maze, a quarter-mile walking maze and the drive-thru for cars and trucks.

Pumpkin patch guests can visit with longhorns and enjoy beverages, popcorn and hot dogs for a donation. “It’s no charge if you don’t want to or can’t afford to donate. We want this to be a fun experience, not a stressful one,” Hofer said.

“We put this out as part of our community enrichment.”

“The biggest attraction is the fellowship and our prices are so reasonable,” Hofer said. U-pick pumpkins are $3 apiece, while pre-picked pumpkins are $5, Hofer said. Several varieties of squash are available for $2 each. Gourds, bundles of Indian corn, corn stalk bundles and hay bales also are available.

Not all seeds take, Hofer said. “Two of our specialty ones didn’t grow. All the rest have been really, really good,” she said, noting they buy better seeds.
Hofer spent about $2,500 on seeds this year, she said.

“We try to buy a quality seed; it produces better,” she said. “Every year I place an order for seeds and it gets a little more expensive. As far as all these expenses people are talking about going up, that is true.”

The farm has about seven acres of pumpkins, including Cinderella, Mellow Yellow, Polar Bear, Snowball, Big Doris and others. Besides pumpkins, the Hofers grow several varieties of squash, such as Pinnacle, Spaghetti, Butternut and Butterbaby.

Pumpkin planting starts around Memorial Day at Swanson’s Big Red Barn in Niagara, Brenda Swanson said.

Besides planting and tending to hundreds of pumpkins, her husband Pete Swanson loves to bake, she said, and her three sons also help out, each in their own way. PumpkinFest is a large undertaking and the culmination of the family’s hard work.

This is the eighth year the Swansons have opened the farm, sweet shop and gift shop at W7480 Valerio Road in Niagara for PumpkinFest from 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturdays through Oct. 25 with pumpkins, train rides, a teeter totter made from John Deere parts, and a trampoline-like jumping pillow, corn maze and treats.

Pete and Brenda Swanson own Storheim’s Restaurant on 141 US-2 in Iron Mountain, Mich., and the Big Red Barn’s sweet shop offers cinnamon rolls, s’more bars, pies in several varieties, Scotcharoos, caramel apples, homemade apple cider doughnuts, jumbo sugar cookies, pumpkin pie in a cup, apple crisp and sundaes, Brenda Swanson said. A lunch of pizza, hamburgers, hot dogs and spiral potato chips is served in the barn, she said.

Swanson’s corn maze includes stations where participants get credit towards a chance for a prize and offers surprises amid the corn stalks, but a wide variety of pumpkins also is a draw. Most are priced at $3 to $12, Swanson said.