How To Create A Pumpkin

Local Pumpkin Patches create lifetime experiences

CASHTON, Wis. (WXOW) - Local pumpkin patches on family farms provide a unique destination to experience farm life, have some fun, and pick out the perfect Jack O' Lantern candidate.

Tucker and Becky's Pumpkin Patch just outside of Cashton, has dealt with adversity but still opens up their farm each fall for pumpkin hunters.

Wiped out by a flood in 2018, and with help from the local community, the patch re-opened with great anticipation. The reason for the anticipation is because the farm was a great destination to make lasting memories and continue family traditions.

Becky Gretebeck, VP of Operations, want to create the full farm experience for her customers.

Becky Gretebeck - VP of Operaions - Tucker and becky's Pumpkin Patch.jpg

"It's all the things that come with going to find your pumpkins," Gretebeck said. "We'll have families that will stay for four hours. There's enough to do, then the kids will play and they're happy and they'll just, you know, they'll keep finding something new to do."

Open for two months, it takes a lot of work to prepare and run the patch for Fall.

It's a ton of work," Gretebeck adds. "We get really tired every year." As she chuckles to herself. "So every time we wonder if it's worth it, you get comments from folks that have been here. You'll get a thank you, thank you for being open, thank you for doing this, thank you for giving us a place to go...that's what it does for us."

Providing a fun experience is also the drive for Hidden Trails Corn Maze a few miles away in West Salem. Started thirty years ago with a few surplus pumpkins on the front porch of the family farmhouse, owner and operator Bret Miller says it gradually got bigger over the years and really took off when they put in the corn maze in 1998.

Bret Miller - Owner & Operator - Hidden Trails Corn Maze.jpg

"You can come and get your pumpkin and go into the corn maze and just create some memories with your family, your friends," Miller said. "Go and play some activities for a little while and the experience is just what I want to provide to them. They don't have to drive far, they don't spend a lot of money and they can spend a whole afternoon out here having a good time with each other."

Bret says they grow many varieties of pumpkins, gourds and squash and he enjoys explaining the difference with each one. Sharing how each kind can be used besides carving out a face in them.

The corn maze is the main attraction though. Weaving twists and turns through five miles of paths for four different mazes of different skill levels. Folks spend hours at the farm just for that.

Hidden Trails helps the Miller family diversify the farm's income streams too. Crops, dairy cows, pumpkins and the maze help keep the farm sustainable.

And with the retail portion of the business, creating more revenue is a bonus while sending folks home excited with all the tools they need to decorate for Halloween and the Autumn season.

But just like Becky, Bret says the reward for all the work comes making customers happy.

"This is more of a hobby for me most of the time," Miller said. "And knowing that your hard work that you spend, 12 months out of the year planning and creating and working for, is paying off for just that one memory for that family."