There’s Frost on the Pumpkins at Walters’ Pumpkin Patch!
Nope…..what the cattle haven’t eaten, is covered with snow. No little frost here in Kansas! Isn’t this just the coldest, snowiest winter we’ve seen in years? I can remember Leland Seivley at the Seivley’s Greenhouse always saying that we need 30 days of freezing weather to get rid of the bugs and diseaes in the ground that inhibit plant growth…..I hope he knew what he was talking about because I really expect all the little squash bugs to be laying on their little backs at death’s door this winter!
It’s been rather quiet around here. We do have a meeting with some friends who are going to “retire” and are selling their agritourism equipment. We have spoken for the zipline, something we had never even thought about ever having…but Carroll has the site all picked out, and a culvert swing that hangs from a frame and everyone can ride on this big tube that hangs by ropes. I cannot imagine that Carroll and I will ever retire from our play time and as long as we’re having this much fun and folks keep having a good time here….we’ll go on for many more years. Sure glad Carroll paved the main road at the pumpkin patch so it won’t be so hard walking over those rocks as I get older!
Darla Stewart with the Chamber in El Dorado, Kansas, Visit El Dorado.com has been helping us with the facebook page, Twitter, LinkedIn. We have the “Walters Pumpkin Patch”, “the Walters Farm”, and ”the Haunted Cannery” all ready for posts now. And I think all of them are connected so when we post to one, the post goes to the other sites. Keep your fingers crossed on this one because my social media skills are rather limited even though Darla gave Walters Pumpkin Patch her best shot! Thank you, Darla.
We’ll be going to the NAFDMA (NAFDMA.com) conference in Lancaster, Pennsylvania soon. This is an annual meeting of all the agritourism operators in the United States & Canada, with alot of educational workshops, bus tours of area agritourism stops, seeing old friends, etc. We will be touring the Cherry Crest Farm (Cherrycrestfarm.com) and Maize Quest (maizequest.com) which are huge, huge agritourism entities in the United States. We’ll be picking up lots of new ideas along the way!
So, until next time….I’m sitting by the fire and Carroll is out on the tractor feeding cattle…but he’ll be coming in soon to warm up his toes and fingers! Here’s to a wonderful 2010!
I really did sleep to 9am!
Now comes the cleanup and review of “what can we do to make Walters’ Pumpkin Patch a better place for visitors”? We go over and over the current year’s problems, and try to make sure they don’t happen again. What can we do to avoid problems? A problem not only ruins the day for our visitor, but we do not take problems lightly….they weigh on us terribly. We truly want everyone to be able to enjoy our facility.
I’m already looking forward to 2010 Pumpkin Fest! This is why we say that our Kansas pumpkin patch agritourism is a twelve month a year job! We start now getting ready for the next year. But I really did sleep to 9am this morning with the time change! I really was pooped from the year. I think struggling with the cold and rain took more of my energy than I realized.
We had so many new visitors to our agritourism facility though and so many of them posted such great pictures and kind words about the activities we have here at Walters’ Pumpkin Patch. Thank you all for coming out to visit us and we hope you will return in the fall of 2010 to see our new activities that we have dreamed up this year. So for now, I’ll be studying our pumpkin seed catalogs, getting the gourds cleaned up and crafted, planning new events and attractions, and cooking for my husband again. He really does get tired of the concession menu during our six weeks! And it’s time to clean house too! So for now…….thank you all one more time for being apart of the Walters’ Pumpkin Fest 2009!
Roasting the Pumpkin Seeds from Walters’ Pumpkin Patch
By now most everyone has their pumpkins picked from their favorite Patch, and they are ready to be carved. Remember though, that those seeds make a delicious, nutritious snack for all the ages! We use the seeds from the giant pumpkins for our use as roasted seeds here at the Walters’ Pumpkin Patch. They are “meatier” and easier to crack open.
Roasted Pumpkin Seeds
Boil 1 & 1/3 c. water and 3T. salt. Pour over 1/2 lb. or 1 & 2/3 c. of raw, hulled pumpkin seeds. Cover and let stand for 12-24 hours. Drain liquid from the seeds and spread over the bottom of a 10″ x 15″ baking sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for 25-35 minutes or until seeds are dry and puffed. Stir frequently while roasting. Store in an airtight container.
Remember to remove the seeds from the fiber and pulp before covering with the boiling water.
We would certainly like the thank all of our visitors who ventured to come play at the Patch another year, and a thank you to all of our first time visitors who ventured out to see what we were all about. We can apologize for the wind, rain and cold that our Kansas agritourism facility has experienced this season, but alas, there is nothing that we can do about the weather…..we can only hope for a better season of weather next year. Again…thank you to all of you who came. We appreciate your business.
We will be open this Friday and Saturday (10am-7pm) along with the Haunted Cannery (7:30pm-11:00pm). So if you haven’t made it out yet, we hope you can make it for one of the last two days of the season….it sounds like the weather ought to be sunny and warm! Until next time: we’re down in the Patch.
What is With Our Weather in Kansas?
It’s raining so hard right now and it’s so cold. I’m very surprised that this hasn’t turned into snow or sleet over the Walters’ Pumpkin Patch! But when I think back to June with four 100 degree days, and then virtually no more days of extreme heat during the summer…..why wouldn’t we expect it to be 15 degree below the October average? As I’ve always said, “There is nothing any better than Kansas when she’s having a good day, and nothing any worse, when she isn’t!”
We’ve had alot of new visitors to the Walters’ Pumpkin Patch in the last four weeks. We certainly thank all our past visitors who have told their family and friends about our Kansas agritourism facility. It is less than an hours drive from Wichita or Emporia, and not much further from Manhattan, Topeka, and Lawrence. We have visitors from Great Bend, and Kansas City who say this will be their new fall pumpkin patch excursion! Thank you so all of you who are advertising for us.
I want to tell you all about a sale that we are going to have this month. Beginning the weekend of Oct 24th and Oct 25th, we’re offering 20% off all our merchandise…candles, Christmas, fall, and Thanksgiving….everything. Then on Oct 31st and Nov 1st, we’re going to raise the sale to 30% off everything. So keep us in mind for the holidays coming up quickly, and come on out to see what bargains you can get!
Well, for now, I’m in the house with a fall magazine, a cup of hot cider, and hoping the rain and cold stop soon.
“Never Ever” at Walters’ Pumpkin Patch
Never ever have we been so far behind in getting our pumpkin patch ready for our season’s visitors as we were this year. There was just too much for Carroll & I to do alone, and it takes longer to get things ready as we get older! But you know what? We have some of the most fantastic returning and new employees that any business could ever hope to employ!
The gals whipped the concession area into shape in no time at all! The gals in the admissions booth had their little “house” cleaned up, spruced up, and fixed up faster than the speed of light! Superman would’ve been proud! The ladies in the gift shop and the pantry buildings were dusting and arranging, while the men were cleaning up the barrel train, getting the wagons ready to roll, and putting up the children’s sign boards! And our new employees took over like storm troopers and worked the new attractions like they had been with us for umpteen years! What a fantastic crew we have this year! It’s so exciting for Carroll & I to know that we have a really great group helping us to be: “Where Fall Begins!”
I’ve been running around taking photos of the children who have come to play this year in our agritourism operation….I really wish I could share them with you, but I’m having trouble with patience and sizing of the photos to get them into this blog! So guess you’ll just all have to come see for yourselves what we are offering here at Walters’ Pumpkin Patch! And we hope to see you all soon.
Until next time….we’re down in the patch getting the goblin egg gourds picked for our fall egg hunt this coming weekend! Take a look at our website at walterspumpkinpatch.com for the times under the events listing.
Two Weeks and Counting Down to Pumpkin Season 2009!
Haven’t we had some beautiful Kansas weather lately? These cooler days sure turn our thoughts to fall and pumpkin season!
But we’ve had some rain this morning on the start of this Labor Day Weekend. Carroll has gone to town to get the supplies to build our Funky Pumpkin Game for kids (and adults) to draw their own pumpkin. After drawing in your eyes, nose and mouth, you match your drawing to the Master Board to see what the name of your pumpkin is. And he also is going to get the fencing to finish up the sides of the swinging bridge over the creek. The bridge is so awesome…I cannot think of a better word to describe what these guys have created in our agritourism facility. It probably won’t get painted before we open…our painter (daughter Amy) has been busy getting our fences all whitened up here at the Walters’ Pumpkin Patch. Amy’s daughter, we call her Miss Muffet, has been busy catching frogs and turtles while Amy paints. We had a frog named Turtle, and a turtle named Frog. We need to get her an animal picture book. (You can see Muffet’s big brothers Garett and Dacota in the photo of the new spider web climb).
David Stackley and Greg Richenburg are really working hard to get the Haunted Cannery up and running for 2009. A professional videographer came to shoot film footage of the Cannery last week. Don Varner of Russell, Kansas, was one of the original guys who began the haunted attraction here at Walters Pumpkin Patch. Don came down to be one of the actors for the video. Can hardly wait to see the film myself! PLUS….on the weekends, during the day, we will be opening up the Haunted Cannery for “mini frights” for those who want to venture toward the scarey. The fee will be $6.00 per person for the wagon ride and the cannery scare.
Well, I do need to get our pumpkin shaped bean bags made this morning for the new bean bag toss game at our Kansas pumpkin patch….for now, I’m down in the sewing room!
The NEW Website for Walters’ Farm
Bill Mauk with Eckert Agrimarketing has our new website, The Walters Farm “up and running”. Since we are now offering weddings, reunions, birthdays and corporate events here at the Walters’ Farm. Grouping all these events during other months into the Walters’ Pumpkin Patch might not really work well. Having a separate website will help us greatly with promotions of these other events. So when you have time, take a look at our new website.
Carroll is putting up the new spider web today. This is the latest agritourism attraction to arrive at Walters’ Pumpkin Patch. I ought to have some pictures of it soon…..but I have to recharge my camera batteries first. I never had to wait to take a picture in the days of the old Kodaks! The rope spider web is fastened to poles and children can climb in the “web”. There might even be a couple of giant Kansas spiders waiting for our pumpkin pickers!
I want to pass along some information on a new business in El Dorado. Everyone knows Brian Andrews who owned J Brians Pub and Grill in El Dorado and has lived in El Dorado all his life. Brian has started a new business staining and sealing wood structures, like decks, arbors, mining operations, castles, treehouses. He has been all over the pumpkin patch this past week and his work is exceptional, but even from his days at Dillon’s….Brian was exceptional! So if you are needing anything stained and sealed before winter sets in, give Brian a call at 316-323-3857.
Until next time….we’re down in the Patch.
The Pumpkins Are Turning Orange, and white, and red, and…
We are beginning to see the pumpkins here at Walters’ Pumpkin Patch! My granddaughter, Miss Muffet (her real name is Chyanne), and I were scouting the edges of the fields and we even saw a giant white pumpkin! It is so deceiving when all you can see is the big green leaves on the pumpkin vines. Every pumpkin grower secretly wonders if they’ll even have any pumpkins when you can’t see the pumpkins, only the foliage. Then as autumn approaches, the vines begin to fall over and there is your prize…. big orange jack o’lanterns just waiting for the picking. And there is a smell to a pumpkin field that my daughter Amy hates, but it smells of autumn to me. I love that smell.
Another thing I love is our new treehouse that Roger Knowles and his crew has built. There are two large levels of play in the treehouse with a fireman’s pole in the center of the upper level and a twisting slide on the lower level. And as an added attraction there is room for three swings going out to the side! Roger and Company built this treehouse without a plan….they just started building and it turned out fabulous. Thank you, and thank you again! The pumpkin patch visitors are gonna love this one too.
I had alot of wonderful men and women interview for employment with me today. I even warned them that we work really hard during our six weeks, but none of them ran out screaming. Now I’m really looking forward to the fall season…..we’re going to be working with an awesome group of people. That’s exciting too. So now if Carroll can get the golf clubs built, the roping steers set up, the obstacle course set up, the Funky Pumpkin stations built……I wonder what that man has been doing all these months! Oh, I sure hope he doesn’t read my blogs! He might mutiny at this point!
Only five more weeks til we open our agritourism pumpkin picking facility….hope we’ll see you all soon. Until then…..we’re down in the patch!
Mining at Walters’ Pumpkin Patch
Justin and Jason have been here for the past three days installing the new mining attraction for the Walters’ Pumpkin Patch. Their father started the Sandy Creek Mining many years ago and now the twin sons are on the road building the equipment that they have designed and developed over the years. They were just so knowledgable, such nice young men to have working at our agritourism facility, and so good with their building of this attraction! I can hardly wait until we open now and visitors have the chance to experience the mining for fossils and rocks in the sluice. I really doubt we’ll find any gold….but who knows?
Carroll has been finishing up the bridges for the walkways for our 7 hole golf course and he has the holes drilled for the buckets which will be set in the ground for the hole cups. Our grandsons, Dacota and Garett, love playing the Graveyard Golf and had grandma going down the hills/ditches in the rough looking for lost 4″ balls. And did I mention there was some poison ivy in there as well that we had overlooked! Get out the spray tank….we got weeds to spray! Perhaps some of the ladies or gentlemen who play Legion golf or Country Club golf would get a hoot out of our pasture golf! Come on out; we open September 19th!
Part of the Funky Pumpkin Game/Drawing attraction came in Friday, but not all of it was delivered. We’ll be needing to build the three stations where visitors rotate to draw the eyes, noses, and mouths on their paper pumpkin. Hope it all comes with good directions! And the maze is just looking fantastic! Every year Carroll & I have struggled to have a pretty field of corn. Either we were using up last year’s corn which didn’t grow as tall as this year’s corn and we had varying heights of corn plants in the field, or the herbicide and the corn seed wasn’t compatible, or the corn dried up too fast from an early planting, or the wind blew over a field that had been too thickly planted and the corn stalks didn’t hold up against the Kansas wind. Every year there seems to be a problem. But this year is looking really good! We are excited to be sponsored by and using the logo for Emprise Bank. The “gang” at Emprise in El Dorado have done such a wonderful job of taking care of us, our business and our farm financials for many years and we appreciate them so very much. Having our maze center around the Emprise logo is the least that we could do for all they have done for us. Thank you, Emprise Bank!
Our son Benjy sent us photos of our grandsons, Ben and Ryan, climbing on a rope spider web at a zoo in Nebraska. And Benjy found the website where we could purchase a 12′ diameter spider web too! It’s being made now, and will be ready for our opening September 19th (that’s only six weeks away). YIKES!
Well, the pumpkins are holding their own at this point. So for the time being, we’re just trying to get everything ready for our Pumpkin Fest 2009! Hope we’ll be seeing each of you soon!
