BY BOBBE JONES
I heard the mother’s impatient sigh. The little girl did not. She was too focused on her goal, scrambling over the bales of hay, climbing toward that big orange pumpkin. Finally, it was in her grasp.
Struggling to lift the oversized squash, she examined every inch of it just as she had with so many others. But this one was different. I could tell by the grin that spread across her face as she tightly hugged it to herself while looking back at her mom. Her mother’s features softened. She knew this was the special pumpkin they had been so diligently looking for. This one would become her daughter’s very own jack-o’-lantern.
Watching this determined youngster search for her perfect carving pumpkin reminded me of the summers I spent as a child at my aunt and uncle’s farm in Minnesota. That was a time when simple things seemed miraculous.
Riding Shetland ponies could transform me into Annie Oakley. A simple game of hide-and-seek was elevated to greatness when played in a barn bursting with hay bales and promises. Come nighttime, I was free to chase lightning bugs and frogs until the family gathered to watch Uncle Ray’s home movies before bedtime. The place warmed my soul as does my new place, Jones Farm outside of Cortez.
And that day, sometime in between reminiscing and completing the girl’s pumpkin sale, I realized that she was taking away from the Jones Farm PumpkinFest the very thing that influenced my decision to put together the event: a wonderful childhood memory.
Our PumpkinFest, along with a long list of other fall pumpkin patches, corn mazes and harvest festivals, is part of what makes autumn in Colorado such a nostalgic time of year. Our October festivities encourage families and tourists to visit our small farm during peak harvest. For a small fee, they gain entrance to a day of fun, plus they get a pumpkin, a meal, and all kinds of free-form activities at no additional charge.
For a few weekends in the fall, everyone enjoys homemade pumpkin cupcakes, apple cider and hot dogs under the shade of the cottonwoods and willows that border the farm’s main pond. Youngsters delight in picking their own jack-o’-lantern in between riding tricycles, pulling wagons or swinging as high as they dare on the tire swing. Bobbing for apples and feeding a kid goat in the petting zoo are favorites of little ones. Older, more adventurous types enjoy the interactive decorations, riding the tractor or playing in the hay maze.
Parents and grandparents have plenty of photo opportunities. There are action shots and the more traditional posing next to the “How tall this fall?” 8-foot scarecrow with its measurement scale to record a child’s growth. Or they can grab a shot of youngsters peering through the windows of the pumpkin delivery truck.
PumpkinFest on the Jones Farm didn’t just happen; it is the culmination of a decade of work. My husband, Dick, and I purchased an unproductive 65-acre plot in 1996 and slowly developed it into a working farm. We dabbled in growing different varieties of pumpkins, gourds and vegetables to familiarize ourselves with the ins and outs of gardening.
Last season, supplemental rains increased our production; however, this abundant harvest wasn’t without its problems. Our challenges included stink bugs and deer that sampled the buffet of pumpkins and gourds, leaving scars or worse.
With all of our ups and downs, we discovered a new appreciation for food production and a renewed understanding of the importance of the resources that supply it. Each season provides a surplus of information on growing things, and it is important for us to use this knowledge to provide quality products. New products are introduced each year to add interest and to educate our customers. It is a good way to find out what we want and help explore new possibilities.
Last year, we increased our crops and researched different marketing techniques to sell the harvest during its peak. Encouraging customers to visit the farm was appealing to us because we are located only a mile from Cortez’s city limits.
We reasoned that if patrons came to the farm, it would save on our fuel costs because we wouldn’t have to transport our products to a farmers market. This savings could keep our prices more competitive and encourage cost-conscious customers to visit the farm.
Beginning with a marketing campaign for u-pick seasonal products, we discovered that many of our customers enjoyed digging their own new potatoes and picking cucumbers off the vine. Others preferred that we harvest the products for them. So we give customers the option: pick your own or we’ll do it for you.
After researching other agritourism options, a festival seemed like a good fit for us. PumpkinFest offered a way to attract more visitors, which supplements our agricultural business and generates income in a new way. In general, “agritourism” reinforces the need to support local growers and sources by allowing visitors to experience what it is to be part of the land. Our niche event helps diversify our small farm and helps our community understand the important role that farming plays in all of our lives.
Jones Farm PumpkinFest provides down-home fun while visitors explore what the farm has to offer. We encourage children to visit our farm and experience its place
in the scheme of things. A family visit during this event provides a more exciting alternative to the typical grocery store selection of a Halloween pumpkin.
During the festival and throughout the season, we offer a variety of products, including cooking and ornamental pumpkins, gourds, hay, cut flowers, herbs, pickling cucumbers, blackberries, tomatoes, sweet and hot peppers, several squash varieties, new potatoes and raw honey. This year, a high, plastic-covered greenhouse tunnel was added to extend our growing season for tomatoes and peppers. We are experimenting with an acre of ornamental and sweet corn to be used as a children’s maze and for sales.
When the season ends, the maze will be tilled into the soil and the leftover pumpkins will become feed for our sheep or go into our composting pile. Everything will be recycled.
Jones Farm is a family affair and our children are an indispensable part of building, planting and harvesting for PumpkinFest, as well as its preparation and execution. Daughter Jennifer graduated from Colorado State University with a degree in restaurant and resort management. She is a marketing consultant for the event. Son Bud is a master electrician and provides his expertise wherever needed. Younger daughter Julie has a fine arts degree and assists with design and sales. She has created her own line of Halloween décor, which is available at the farm.
New memories are in the making, for me and for each of the visitors who spends a fall weekend at Jones Farm. A wonderful plus is that I’m doing all of this with my husband and kids, watching them stretch to reach new goals while creating their own memories on the family farm.
The Jones Farm is located at 25450 Road M, Cortez, a mile from the city limits on Road M, between Mildred Road and Lebanon Road. PumpkinFest will run October 15-16 and 22-23 from 11 a.m – 7 p.m. Find out more at jonesfarm@buzztown.com or pickyourown.org.
When Bobbe Jones isn’t at the farm, she is busy at Empire Electric Association being the assistant member services manager and newsletter editor.