Archive for November, 2010

Thanksgiving Time at Walters’ Pumpkin Patch

It’s once again that time of year that we truly count our blessings.   After all it is thanks  giving or the giving of thanks.

We are so thankful that the time we have invested into a little pumpkin patch has brought smiles to those who have come to see us throughout the years.  And those smiles have brought them back year after year.  This hobby began back in 1988 and has continued into the business that our visitors have allowed it to be.  That the public can come spend the day on our Kansas farm and enjoy the simplicity of our piece of the Flinthills of Kansas is our goal and the highlight at Walters’.  Oh, yes, we have built the zipline or a Mountain Boo, but it’s the time that families and/or friends can spend together that makes Walters’ Pumpkin Patch what it is or has become.  Thank you for coming to see us, and allowing us to continue all these years.

Carroll & I took a little time off and went to Branson this past week.   We rode the ZipRider coming off a 170′ tower.   I finally remembered to “breath” after the first half of the ride…about 1/4 mile down the cable!   So if you look over the horizon between Burns and El Dorado, and you see a new structure going up…..Carroll is laying bricks for his new zipline!   Just kidding….but it did give us something to think about.

I’ll be ordering pumpkin seeds for our Kansas pumpkin patch this coming week too, so I can get the seeds that I want for the coming season.   And I’ll be ordering Carroll’s earless corn too for the corn maze.  And then that little job will be done!   It is a nightmare to get the seeds you believe will do the best in our Kansas climate, and then finding the best pricing out of the ten or more catalogs that we get from seed companies.  It’s not just a matter of thinking I want a 1/2 lb of baby boo (miniature white pumpkin seeds) and then placing the order.  Most all the seed companies offer baby boo seeds, so finding the best pricing is just part of keeping our prices down.  

Well….today we will be down in the patch again, bringing up the giant gourds so the cattle won’t be stomping on them in the field.   To answer the question:  “What do you do with all the leftover pumpkins?”  The cattle that are put into the fields, will have all the pumpkins eaten within a couple of days…..they love the pumpkins!   Even cattle have their version of pumpkin pie at thanksgiving time!   May your thanksgiving holiday be as thankful as ours here at Walters’ Pumpkin Patch.

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“We only work 6 weeks of the year”……YEAH, RIGHT!

Sammy the Scarecrow

We have to laugh and try to give an explanation of our “work habits” when our visitors saying something like, “Gosh, I wish I only had to work six weeks out of the year”!   It would seem to be true to someone on the outside of a Kansas agritourism venture; but it is far from what really goes on at the Walters’ Pumpkin Patch.

To most facilities in the pumpkin business, the work is just beginning now.   One starts talking and thinking about what they can do to improve their pumpkin patch or apple orchard, ranching adventure for the coming year.  There is no time to work on improvements when you are in the season!   So here we go!
Our zipline was a monumental attraction and new this past season….what can we do to improve it, can it be longer and go across the creek, what kind of motorized equipment would bring the harnesses back to the other end?   Carroll has a lot of work and thinking to do!  Can we improve our wedding facilities by eliminating the house we just bought where our  children were raised, and adding a large barn with air conditioning and heating, a kitchen, dressing rooms, and seating?  What are the laws and zoning?   So many things to think about.   And then there’s the physical work:  collecting the giant pumpkin seeds from the field that we can roast and some we can plant for next year’s crop.   We have alot of gourds to get out of the field before they turn out cattle for the winter where the gourds have grown this year.   I need to get pumpkin, squash, and gourd seeds ordered for next year while there are discounts on bulk seeds.  We still have scarecrows to dismantle and wash up and signs to store.  And we need to have a big sale on merchandise because we’re going to have only one gift shop next year, and we need to eliminate some fall and Christmas merchandise.   And I’d like to paint the concrete floors so all the display equipment needs to be moved.    I don’t know if it’s because Carroll & I are getting older and it takes us longer to get things done, or this has become a twelve month a year job with lots of new things to be done each year!
Anyway….we may only be open for six weeks a year, but the work at our Kansas pumpkin patch goes on for months just like people who work in the cities.   May each of you enjoy the approaching holidays with family and friends and dream a little about our PumpkinFest 2011 as we prepare to entertain you again.   Walters’ Pumpkin Patch is officially CLOSED FOR THE SEASON.

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