EMERADO, N.D. -- From four single plants did Nelson's Pumpkin Patch grow.
During the past 13 years since Carrie Nelson planted pumpkins for her second-grade class at Grand Forks Air Force Base Carl Ben Eielson Elementary School, the number of area students visiting the patch has grown from a couple of dozen to more than a thousand from across North Dakota and northwest Minnesota.
"We get them from Minto, Manvel, Grand Forks, the Base, Warren-Alvarado, pretty much all over," said Todd Nelson, Carrie's husband. Dozens of families also visit Nelson's Pumpkin Patch on the weekends, said Nelson who oversees the patch during its one-month fall run.
"If it's a nice day on a weekend, there will be hundreds of people here," he said.
This year Nelson's Pumpkin Patch opened for business Sept. 26 and will continue through Oct. 31.
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Preparing for the fall run begins in the spring when Nelson plants 4 acres of pumpkins and gourds, 2 acres of corn and a small patch of broom corn. Nelson, a grain and row-crop farmer, plants the thousands of pumpkin seeds with an old one-row bean planter he modified. He and his sons, Aaron and Corey, weed the pumpkin rows with a hoe.
"There are very few chemicals you can use," Nelson said.
The Nelson family also picks the pumpkins by hand, loading them on a trailer, then hauling them to a building where they store them for their customers.
"It is very, very labor intensive," Nelson said.
A busy fall
He begins preparing in mid-September for the opening of the pumpkin patch and starts harvesting pumpkins late in the month. This past week he was busy getting the last of the pumpkins under cover because a hard freeze was forecast.
In addition to the small pumpkins, Nelson's Pumpkin Patch also sells medium- and large-sized jack-o-lanterns, "Cinderella" pumpkins, pie pumpkins, white Lumina pumpkins and a blue variety. The family also offer for sale gourds, straw bales, broom corn and ornamental corn. Parents and children also can buy Halloween-themed knick-knacks at the Pumpkin Shack at Nelson's Pumpkin Patch.
The shack is one of about a half dozen buildings on the Nelson farm that are used during the pumpkin patch season. The Nelsons also have a cook car and a concessions wagon where customers can purchase hot and cold drinks, candy and food, including pumpkin bars made from their pie pumpkins.
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Besides picking out a treat to eat, visitors to Nelson's Pumpkin Patch also can play games, go on a hayride, find their way through straw and corn mazes and take a walk down Haunted Hollow Road.
The Nelsons also have added to the pumpkin patch's ambiance by painting large round hay bales to look like a witch, a pumpkin and a monster, restoring an old farm truck and painting it pumpkin orange and flying a pumpkin flag.
"We try to add something every year," Nelson said. By doing so, they not only draw new customers, but also keep the old ones coming back.
New this year is the Gruesome Granary Haunted House, targeted at kids ages 12 and older, that is made up of two old wooden granaries and a bunkhouse. Most of the items used at the pumpkin patch are recycled from Nelson's farm, which has been in his family since 1880.
Long, but rewarding days
The 12-hour days Nelson puts in when the pumpkin patch is in operation are similar to his hours during the farming season.
Nelson acknowledges that the pumpkin patch -- and the work involved -- to run it has burgeoned since he and Carrie conceived it as a way he could stay at home while their children were young. However, he still enjoys it and has fun thinking up and carrying out new ideas like this year's Granary Haunted House.
"Making the haunted house was my favorite."
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"I like to see all of the people come out, the kids enjoy themselves."
Nelson's Pumpkin Patch, located 1¼ miles north and ¼ miles east of the Grand Forks Air Force Base exit on U.S. Highway 2, is open from 3 to 6 p.m. weekdays and from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. on weekends. Group tours also are available by appointment. Information: (701) 610-9564 and on the Web at www//nelsonspatch.farming.officelive.com
Bailey writes for special features sections. Reach her at (701) 787-6753; (800) 477-6572, ext. 753; or send e-mail to abailey@gfherald.com .
