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Ag News
Now That's Rural
Published Wednesday, October 07, 2009 at 10:14 AM
By Ron Wilson, director of the Huck Boyd National Institute for Rural Development at Kansas State University.
Where would we find the only pumpkin-shaped canning jar in the world? How about at an innovative pumpkin patch in rural Kansas? This is the remarkable story of the Walters´ Pumpkin Patch.
Becky and Carroll Walters own Walters´ Pumpkin Patch near Burns, Kansas. Carroll grew up here while Becky is from El Dorado. They met and married, and are living on Carroll´s home farm.
Becky was working at a greenhouse when the owner showed her some miniature pumpkins. Becky thought they were cute. She realized she could raise those on the Walters farm, so she planted a couple of rows across a five-acre field. When the season was all done, they realized that the pumpkins had made twice as much money as if the field had been in milo. It was a sign that they should pursue the pumpkins, and they did.
Then they discovered something else: Along with the pumpkins came people. Many people wanted to come to the farm to pick out their pumpkin, so Becky and Carroll started opening up the farm. That was the beginning of what would become an incredible agritourism success story.
Today, Walters´ Pumpkin Patch is a major attraction with all kinds of fall activities for kids and others. Families can come and pick out pumpkins, along with many other fun activities. For example, there is a swinging bridge, mining sluice to find gems and minerals, treehouse play area, giant jumping pillow, pumpkin golf, underground slides, hayride, specialty pumpkins, butterfly house, bag swings, pedal boats, pedal cars, corn maze, barrel train, rope climb, corn bin to play in, tricycle track, wildflower trail, and much, much more.
Guys like the air-powered pumpkin cannon which can shoot an eight- inch pumpkin half a mile at scarecrows across a field. The Pumpkin Pantry features gifts and food, such as pumpkin donuts, breads, chili, juice and salsa. Becky makes creative craft items from pumpkins, scarecrows, and gourds.
The corn maze is offered during the day, with a flashlight maze and haunted cannery on Friday and Saturday nights.
Becky said, "We try to add activities which you won´t find at the city park or the zoo or at Disneyland. And we want to stay close to authentic farm activities."
Carroll said, "The things we take for granted, like finding frogs in the creek, are fun for these kids."
These activities are fun for big people too. One little old lady with a walker was reticent when she arrived, but when she left she said, "I haven´t had this much fun since I was 16 years old."
Becky developed a pumpkin salsa and she wanted pumpkin-shaped canning jars to put it in, but she couldn´t find them anywhere. She talked to a big company which told her that just developing the mold would cost $30,000, which seemed prohibitive. As Becky thought about this, she thought of a local farm kid she knew who had gone to K-State and become a fashion designer. When Becky contacted her, she found that not only was the woman willing to design the jars, she owned a glass manufacturing company. When the project was all done, Becky had the only pumpkin-shaped canning jar in the world.
All these attractions are bringing more than 20,000 people per year to the Walters´ farm near the rural community of Burns, population 271 people. Now, that´s rural.
In addition, the Walters are branching out to host weddings, reunions, and corporate picnics throughout the year. For more information, go to www.walterspumpkinpatch.com or www.thewaltersfarm.com.
It´s time to leave Walters´ Pumpkin Patch. We commend Becky and Carroll Walters for making a difference with their innovation and expansion of this fall agritourism activity. Becky shares one other example: One day she noticed a mother tending a child who was seeming to have trouble at the pumpkin patch. The following day, the mother explained to Becky that her son is autistic. She said, "He never puts sentences together, he just says words. But last night at dinner, he said, `I love my pumpkin.´" Becky said, "The mother was so happy. It made it all worthwhile."
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The mission of the Huck Boyd National Institute for Rural Development is to enhance rural development by helping rural people help themselves. The Kansas Profile radio series and columns are produced with assistance from the K-State Research and Extension Department of Communications News Media Services Unit. A photo of Ron Wilson is available at http://www.ksre.ksu.edu/news/sty/RonWilson.htm. Audio and text files of Kansas Profiles are available at http://www.kansasprofile.com. More information about the Huck Boyd Institute is available on the Web site http://www.ksre.ksu.edu/huckboyd/.
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K-State Research and Extension is a short name for the Kansas State University Agricultural Experiment Station and Cooperative Extension Service, a program designed to generate and distribute useful knowledge for the well-being of Kansans. Supported by county, state, federal and private funds, the program has county Extension offices, experiment fields, area Extension offices and regional research centers statewide. Its headquarters is on the K-State campus, Manhattan.
Story by: Ron Wilson rwilson@ksu.edu K-State Research & Extension News
The Huck Boyd Institute is at 785-532-7690 or rwilson@ksu.edu.
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