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Our biggest hurdle now is finding new employees for this fall.  We need a good, strong field hand to help pick pumpkins, make corn shocks and help around in general.  We’re also looking for a couple of new people to help with the pumpkin store sales.  These employees need to have good people skills so that they can represent our family friendly business well.  If you know of anyone who can work 10-7 on Saturdays and 1-5 on Sundays, tell them to contact us by phone or email.

Paul is reporting that the crop looks really good as of now.  We don’t have a blight problem yet, so that is wonderful.  Because of all the rain that we’ve had, the pumpkins are getting a good size on them.  If anyone is a planning a fall wedding, we will have white pumpkins for decorating.  We’ll also have gray, green, pink, yellow and red ones.  I never knew that there were so many kinds of pumpkins until Paul started this pumpkin patch.

That’s it for today.  Stay cool!

Linda

With all the rain and hot, muggy weather, the pumpkins are growing by leaps and bounds.  We can practically see the plants doubling in size overnight.  The pumpkins are beginning to set on and we have hopes of a good crop this fall.  Paul planted close to 50 different varieties of pumpkins, gourds and squash.

We are excited about our third season for the Pumpkin Patch.  We’ll be trying several new ideas. One will be running our own concession stand, featuring pumpkin goodies baked by a local woman who is known for her excellent pastries.  We’ll also have hot dogs, sloppy joes and warm and cold drinks.

For the kids, we’re adding Paul’s Pee Wee Pumpkin Maze.  You’ll have to come check this out.

For the adults, we’re hosting an Art and Craft Show on September 25.  We’ve been busy inviting local artists and crafters to show their wares.  Interest has been good so far.

This coming week, we’ll be sponsoring the Teen Zone Activity Tent at the Clarion County Fair.  We set up our 30×30 tent for their use.  So yesterday, we scrubbed the tent. What a job!!!  It looks much brighter and I’m sporting a bright sunburn as well.  Come to the Fair and see our display with our new brochures.  For the kids, we have coloring pages for them to color and bring to the pumpkin patch to receive a FREE pocket pumpkin.

Finally, we caught Paul in the garden when we were flying.  He is definitely a man out standing in his field.

Til the next time,

Linda

A Man Out Standing in His Field

Have lunch at our new food concession

Not “Too” Scary Nighttime Hay Rides -  Ride through our back fields with our talented storyteller and enjoy our “kid friendly” fall scenes.

New this fall – Kid’s Maze

Back again – Paul’s Peak – Hay mountain
Corn Box

And all other attractions from past years.

Family Fun Every Saturday!!!

Tentative Schedule of Events

Sept. 18        Opening Day

Sept. 25        Art & Craft Show     Phyllis Howard – Dulcimer

Oct. 1        Visit our booth at the Clarion Autumn Leaf Festival Farmers & Crafters Day

Oct. 9        Phyllis Howard – Dulcimer    Laura Ochs – Folk Music

Oct 15        Not “Too” Scary Night Time Hay Ride  7:00 – 10:00
Oct. 16        Not “Too” Scary Night Time Hay Ride  7:00 – 10:00
Oct. 22        Not “Too” Scary Night Time Hay Ride  7:00 – 10:00
Oct. 23        Not “Too” Scary Night Time Hay Ride  7:00 – 10:00
Oct. 29        Not “Too” Scary Night Time Hay Ride  7:00 – 10:00
Oct. 30        Not “Too” Scary Night Time Hay Ride  7:00 – 10:00

Hours:
Wednsday & Thursday 1pm – 5pm
Friday & Saturday 10 a.m. – 7 p.m.
Sunday 1 – 5 p.m.
Closed Monday & Tuesday

Paul’s Pumpkin Patch, LLC
175 Marks Lane,
Fairmount City, PA 16224

]]> http://paulspumpkinpatch.com/wordpress/?feed=rss2&p=267 0 http://paulspumpkinpatch.com/wordpress/?p=197 http://paulspumpkinpatch.com/wordpress/?p=197#comments Mon, 28 Jun 2010 04:56:33 +0000 admin http://paulspumpkinpatch.com/wordpress/?p=197 We are also taking orders for whole fresh roasting chickens and delicious lamb.

The roasting chickens will be ready the first two weeks of November.  They will weight between 6 and 10 lbs. and are perfect for stuffing.

They are ready for the freezer when you pick them up.  Just ask Paul during your visit, call or email. He’ll tell you all about it.

Click to Contact us!

There was no break after the bridal shower to catch our breath.   Paul started two solid weeks of school field trips.  He talked to the kids about the farm animals and what is involved in raising them.  Patty Anderson, our local cooperative extension agent, came down and helped with the really large groups.  She taught an activity where the kids used math to weigh and measure pumpkins and then count the pumpkin seeds.  All the kids went home with a pumpkin from the patch.  During this time, we had a hard frost.  With the leaves wilted down, we were surpised at all the pumpkins we really had.  Paul kept saying all summer that he thought the crop was small.  Was he ever wrong!

The next weekend, Oct0ber 17, was to be our Flinger Festival.   Unfortunately, the weather was very bad (even had snow) on Saturday and the other guys backed out. Our son Ryan and Somayeh, his wife, came in and so did Jon, our youngest son.  They were hoping to see some friendly pumpkin flinging competition, but still had a good time flinging their own pumpkins. On Sunday, the sun did come out and I was happy because I had scheduled a flight over the farm to take pictures.  It was wonderful to see the fall foliage and pumpkin fields from the air. Paul even had a wagonload of customers up at the trebuchet and they waved vigorously for the camera. It was great to have the whole family together and it allowed Mike to get a family portrait for our Farm and Ranch Living diary that we’re keeping for next October.

Afer Jon and Ryan left, we were still busy picking pumpkins and taking care of our customers.  This is a business driven by the weather.  When the sun was out, the customers came out in droves.  When it rained, we sat around twiddling our thumbs.  Paul got some wholesale orders which helped a lot.

 We finally got our Slinger in action.  We tried once and it didn’t work out.  But the second time, it was finally ready for heavy duty action.  And it got some in these last two weeks.  The kids are launching small gourds and small white pumpkins.  They can really sail a long distance.

Our final fling this weekend was Not-So-Scary Night Hayrides.  We decided to do them Oct 29-31.  Matt was a big help in creating pumpkin people for the route.  We sure missed him after he headed for home on Thursday morning.  He was a huge help this October.  We’ll even miss his dog Micah, who endeared herself to us.  Anyway, the hayrides were fun even though we didn’t get huge crowds out.  The weather was cold but dry. Jill, our elementary librarian, is an excellent storyteller and she came out to tell stories on the wagon.  We also had our boogey man out haunting the wagon as it rolled along.  Friday evening was our best night with three trips through the haunted woods and fields.  I rode on the trip this evening and enjoyed it so much.

It’s nice to be finished.  We’ve had a lot of good times and made many new friends this past six weeks or  so.  Now we can sit and plan for next fall as the weather gets colder and colder and the snow begins to fly. Who knows what crazy ideas we’ll come up with for 2010.

Yours until the pumpkins turn orange again.

Linda

But the weather cleared up for Saturday and we had good business at the farm. Most came in after the parade in Clarion. Paul got to take out about 6 hayrides and the pumpkins were flying out the door.  We enjoyed talking to folks from all over, especially the ones who came and stayed for hours.  The cornbox was a big hit as usual and parents seemed to be content just to let their kids play while they sat on the benches and relaxed.  The hay mountain, dubbed Paul’s Peak, was another favorite spot and after so many kids had crawled all over it, it started to look slightly eroded. Our friend Bill Stumpf is an excellent storyteller and he came to entertain our guests.  He tells tall tales about Gib Wilson from the oil rush days in Franklin and Oil City.  He had us all laughing.

Sunday started out slow because the weather couldn’t make up its mind.  It looked like rain again, but it held off and we had some brave souls venture out.  Actually for being in the 50s, we had a good crowd. Paul ran about 4 hayrides and we again enjoyed visitng with all the local folks who came out.  I went on the last hayride with my friends Mary Ann and Rodger who came with their grandson Carter.  I couldn’t help but notice that  the leaves are starting to show really nice color now.  The splashes of  color among  all the green leaves are so vibrant.

 Our pumpkin painting contest was today.  We had two contestants and Matt and Danielle painted pumpkins as well.  Our winner got a $10.00 gift certificate for our store and she seemd very pleased.  I decided to do it again the next couple Sundays.  I guess we need to adverrtise our contests more.

Our son Matt came in from Arizona on Saturday morning to help us during the whole month of October.  What a Godsend!  He is so full of great ideas and has the energy to make them happen.  Hopefully, we can get some more signs painted while he is home.  His fiance, Lisa, is flying in on Wednesday and  I’m having a bridal shower for her next Saturday at the Pumpkin Patch.  It should be a good time, if the weather cooperates.

Hoping for a sunny, warm day,

Linda

Participants will receive a pumpkin, paints and brushes

1 -3:30 PM, contestants paint their pumpkins.

The winners will be announced at 4 PM.

The prize will be a gift certificate of $10.00 for our store.

There will be three categories:

Elementary-12 and under

High school-age 13-18

Adults.

Our barnyard zoo is adorable.  We have a 2 week old Holstein bull calf.  He is so cute and  has to be bottle fed.  It’s comical to see his quart baby bottle with its huge nipple.  Our helper Alex wants to name him Rudy, so that will be his name. Paul also has a lamb that he is bottle feeding. The barn is a real nursery.  Then we got some fancy chickens on loan from a friend.  One has a mop of feathers on its head.  Another one has beautiful brown feather with speckles.  Homer and Jethro, the piglets are starting to grow and snort like crazy when you walk in to the barn.  It is a zoo!

Well, I have to go dry out.

Linda

On Saturday, we had a crew of helpers in to raise our new 30′ x 30′ tent.  Well, its new to us.  The tent is a used one that we were able to get for  a reasonable sum.  Since Paul allowed the Clarion County Fair to use it in July, it needed to be scrubbed. Using a mixture of Murphy’s Oil Soap and 100% Mineral Spirits, they went all over it and got it looking pretty good.  Raising it was quite the cooperative effort.  I could see why Paul was wanting a bunch of strong guys around.  They  did a lot of tugging and pulling to get it taunt enough to withstand the wind.  It was an exciting moment when the center pole went up  and the whole thing took shape.  We’ll be able to put all our picnic tables , the corn box and our entertainers under it.

We got two piglets yesterday for our barnyard zoo and I named them Homer and Jethro.  Nice farm names.  We’ll be getting a very young Holstein bull calf today.  Paul will be bottle feeding it for awhile.  Since we had around 20 lambs born this summer, Paul has lots of cuties to choose from.  Penny, the nanny goat, and her two babies, Pumpkin and Petunia, will also be included in the zoo.  Unfortunately, we found Pete, the billy goat, drowned in the pond on Saturday.  What a mystery!  We’ve never ever heard of animals drowning, at least on this farm.  Paul had him running with the sheep this summer to curb his fathering instincts.  We all decided that the sheep hated him so much that they pushed him in.  Who knows?  It might be true.

Got to get back to work.

Linda