Bloom Where You're Planted Farm

One of the best things about running our pumpkin patch business is that every fall we become the place where our families and friends tend to gather.  We have places to entertain (without even needing to clean the house!) and lots of folks who we don't see very often usually stop by this time of year.

This was the case last Sunday when we celebrated my grandma's 85th birthday.  We took a hay ride, roasted hot dogs and marshmallows over the fire, and ended the evening with cake in the schoolhouse.

My niece Grace helps Grandma blow out the candles. 

We really had a neat mix of relatives and near-relatives all together that day.  Not only were the Jacobsons gathered for the birthday celebration, but my Aunt Cathy's mother (not an official family member, but I've called her "Grandma Stine" all my life) and Cathy's sister Ellen were there.  Our brother-in-law Greg (married to Terry's sister), niece Zoe and newphew Luke happened to come by at the same time.  Everyone was on the hay ride together, and I realized how special that was and felt fortunate that we could have that experience.  Just a perk of the job, I guess! 

Grace (aged 3 1/2) gets a ride from Luke (20 months) - -what a little stud! 

P.S. -- I'm SORRY it has been SO long since my last blog entry!  It was a busy couple months getting the pumpkin patch ready for our Sept. 18 opening, but things have settled into a pattern now and I hope to blog more often.  This Sunday is our Fifth Anniversary Bash, celebrating the day we first opened to the public (Oct. 1, 2005).  Here's a complete listing of our upcoming events.  The Pumpkin Festival continues through Halloween.  Hope to see you soon at the farm!

Oct. 3 – Five Year Anniversary Bash! Celebrate the fifth-anniversary of our opening day with free treats, face painters, and a jump-in from the Lincoln Sport Parachute Club!

Oct. 9 – Doggy Day. Bring your canine friends (on their leashes, please) for a day at the farm.  Doggy admission is $4.00 and proceeds will be donated to the Capital Humane Society.  Volunteers from the CHS will be on-site from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. with adoptable dogs and information. Dog treats and water dishes will be provided.

Oct. 16 – Ag Day.  Get up close and personal with agriculture!   We will again be partnering with the Conestoga H.S. Future Farmers of America (FFA) to bring you a day filled with agricultural demonstrations, fun farm-themed contests and activities, lots of animals, and many hands-on learning opportunities!

Oct. 30 – Goblin’s Egg Hunt.  The fun begins at 10:30 a.m. with our third-annual hunt (open to children ages 12 & under).  Be there early as the hunt will begin promptly at 10:30. Bring a sack or basket and join the fun!

Oct. 31 – Halloween Party. Children in costume receive a Trick-or-Treat goody bag.  HUGE pumpkin sales and season-end specials in the gift shop! 

Its just twenty-three days until we open for our fifth pumpkin patch season!  Things have been moving along surprisingly quickly this week, thanks in no small part to my father-in-law, Richard.  A full-time farmer, Richard used to and still does work occasionally as a carpenter.  Both these skills/occupations have been a God-send to us since Terry's accident, as Richard has been putting up our hay and helping Terry build our new hay racks.  Now we have big, round hay bales ready for the kids to play on (and later for the horses to eat), the first hayrack is nearing completion, and as I write this the contractor just pulled in to trench a water line over to the Schoolhouse Cafe!

We're really excited to finally offer hay rides to our customers and think it will be a lot of fun for us as well.  A hay ride ticket will be included with our base admission fee.  The ride will take customers out to our southern pumpkin fields which will now be "U-Pick".  I'm especially looking forward to this, because it will mean less pumpkin picking for me!  :-) 

Here's a glimpse at how the pumpkins are coming along.  They're starting to ripen and are looking forward to going home with our happy customers!

Things have started looking up and picking up around here since my last entry.  Terry is beginning to feel more like himself and enjoyed time outdoors this weekend working with his dad building our new hayracks.  It has now been two full weeks since his accident.  All signs point to a successful recovery, although it will be a few months before we'll know how much vision he'll have in his injured eye.

The weather has been wonderful, and its been really enjoyable to be outdoors, even in the heat of the day.  Unusual for August in Nebraska, for sure.  Maybe its the fall-like weather, but we've started hearing from quite a few folks interested in booking field trips and parties for the fall.  We have a few different party options available - if you're interested, visit our website:  http://www.bloompumpkinpatch.com/parties.html.

I love the anticipation of this time of year, as we await ripe pumpkins and a farm full of visitors!  See you soon! 

Our weather has been cold, rainy, and downright gloomy the past few days.  It was a welcome surprise when one of our pumpkin patch customers Deanne emailed some photos of her kids visiting the pumpkin patch last fall.  I remember their family well, because Terry sold his prized "butt pumpkin", a true natural wonder, to their teenage son.  It was hard for Terry to part with his treasure, but having been a teenage boy himself he knew the pumpkin was going to a good home.

The first photo is one I took of the prized pumpkin with its new owner.  The next two photos were taken by Deanne, and show their two girls on the nature trail and the pumpkin in its new home.   

 Ahhh, the fond memories of fall!!!