As the temperature gets lower and the leaves change colors, the world prepares to enter its first fall amidst the coronavirus pandemic.
While many things look different, at least one tradition can remain the same: visits to local pumpkin patches.
The Farmer in the Dell Pumpkin Patch, located off Wire Road, has opened its 20-acre fields of pumpkin vines and sunflowers for its 14th consecutive season.
The patch is making changes necessary to accommodate coronavirus protocols such as washing playground equipment and wearing masks.
The farm, opened in 2007 by brothers Mark and Luke Foshee, has grown over time, introducing new pumpkin varieties and activities for families.
Members of the Foshee family continue to own and maintain the farm where visitors can pick their own pumpkins off the vine, take a hayride, work through a crop maze, see the sunflower field and farm animals or compete in the year’s new event: a scarecrow competition.
Taylor Whitson, the farm’s operations director and family friend of the Foshees, expects no difference in the flow of farm visitors this season.
“I think people keep coming back to make family memories, and that’s what we’re here for,” Whitson said. “That’s our goal.”
The farm has a “Grow with the Farmer in the Dell” sign to document returning visitors, some of whom are local and others coming in from out of town.
“It’s really neat to see how much taller they get, you know, next to a pumpkin,” Whitson said.
Whitson, who never anticipated working on a farm, has loved watching her own 2-year-old son grow up on the farm and cherishes the ability to be a part of other families making lasting memories.
“Going from wearing him and him being like a small pumpkin himself to him standing and running with the goats and cows has been so fun to see,” Whitson said.
For the Foshee family and farm employees such as Whitson, the Farmer in the Dell Pumpkin Patch makes a priority to offer a service to their community by making pumpkin patch memories available to families.
While the farm is open for pumpkin picking in the fall, Whitson said, “there really is no off-season on a farm.”
After the pumpkins are discarded following the season, the farm begins preparations for other crops — pruning their trees in the orchard for peaches and growing tomatoes and corn.
The remainder of the year is full of tending to the land and planting and harvesting their other revenue crops.
Occasionally, the farm offers peach picking days, similar to pumpkin picking, but for the most part, the farm employees harvest the peaches themselves and sell their crops in town.
The farm staff caters to diverse tasks but remains close knit.
“We all wear a bunch of hats and just help each other out where we can,” Whitson said.
The most challenging part in Whitson’s mind is the unpredictable weather and climate conditions — typical of farm work.
“It’s hard never knowing what’s going to happen,” Whitson said.
Whiston said after 14 years, the farm continues to harvest successful seasons.
“We just believe that this is the Lord’s farm, and the Lord has been gracious with this opportunity to serve the community,” Whitson said.
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