聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 Shane and Ashley Valentine have opened a new venue for family fun this fall- and have already welcomed over 500 visitors on their opening weekend, September 17 and 18. The Moose Mountain Pumpkin Patch is located two miles northeast of Carlyle's Prairie Dog Drive-In and in addition to picking out the perfect pumpkin, kids of all ages can explore the corn maze, play in a giant sandbox, tackle the zipline, pose for a family photo, enjoy a homemade lunch or treat, and more.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 鈥淲e first thought of it a few years ago,鈥� says Shane. 鈥淲e thought it would be a great idea to do a pumpkin patch at our place. We opened on Saturday, Sept. 17 and we had 300 visitors on our first day. We had people from broadview, Esterhazy, Regina and lots of people from our local area.鈥�
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 鈥淲e appreciate their support and we're happy they like what we've done so far.鈥�
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Shane was largely self-taught when it came to planting pumpkins. 鈥淟ast year, I started 1,000 pumpkins. Then later, they got hailed out. They grew to be small, so we gave them all the the playschool.鈥�
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 鈥淚 broke the pasture this year, cultivated, disced it, bought a corn planter for the corn for the corn maze and planted all of the pumpkins by hand,鈥� he says. 鈥淪o I planted 4,800 pumpkin seeds per acre. It took about 16 hours.鈥�
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 鈥淲e have 10 different kinds of pumpkins this year,鈥� adds Shane. 鈥淭hey take anywhere from 90 to 120 days to grow. We're finding out which ones we'll plant again and which ones we won't bother with. I talked to buddies who are farmers and through the winter, I read a whole bunch about pumpkins.鈥�
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 鈥淚 taught myself and I'm still learning. I've never even planted a garden before this,鈥� he laughs.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 As part of the pumpkin planting process, Shane learned how to pollinate the plants by hand, which he did 鈥渆very morning, from mid-July on.鈥�
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 The 10 varieties of pumpkins in the Moose Mountain Pumpkin Patch range from the delicious to the decorative. 鈥淲e've got pumpkins that are made for making pies,鈥� says Shane. 鈥淎nd there are some that are bred just for something like decorating for Halloween. We've got one called a knucklehead pumpkin, that has kind of a ghoulish look. It's actually got little wart-like growths on the outside of it to get that look.鈥�
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Shane says the pumpkins must be rotated every day in order to retain their shape. 鈥淥therwise, they can get big flat spots or get mouldy.鈥�
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 'It's been a real learning curve,鈥� he says. 鈥淚n the future, I might get some equipment for planting the pumpkins next year, but so far, I'm pretty happy.鈥�
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Shane's foray into farming didn't stop there, however.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Another feature at the Moose Mountain Pumpkin Patch is the four-acre corn maze, suitable for all ages.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 The stalks-now 10-feet tall- were planted in a zig-zag pattern, so ensure that the maze appeared to be impenetrable. However, Shane says: 鈥淎s the dad of young kids, I've made sure there's an easy way out, too. We want it to be fun and challenging for older kids and adults, but we don't want any little kids getting lost either.鈥�
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Shane designed the maze himself-with only a pencil and a piece of paper-and the design features a 鈥淜鈥� and an 鈥淎鈥� in honour of he and Ashley's children, Knox, 5 and Andie, 2.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 鈥淚 bought a corn planter and planted 240,000 seeds over the four acres. I planted them north, south, east and west, because I wanted the maze to be really thick. There's a little clearing with some bales and an old truck in it, which Ashley has set up for family pictures. You can take your own, or she'll take them. It's a really great idea, not just for a souvenir, but for a family Christmas card, for example. They can also get pictures in front of a pile of pumpkins or a bunch of other farm-themed scenes she'll set up.鈥�
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 鈥淭here's also a little bale maze for kids to play in, a big sand box, a train wagon, a zipline, a canteen and more,鈥� adds Shane. 鈥淲e're also planning a giant slingshot for shooting cobs of corn.鈥�
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 鈥淲e're open to hosting other events too,鈥� he adds. 鈥淎dult and teen nights where the corn maze is open at night, birthday parties, school trips, field trips and all kinds of events.鈥�
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 鈥淔or this year, our first year, we'd like to make it a place where people will come back to. We want to grow it- maybe add a petting zoo, for example. For now, we'll play it year by year and we're happy to welcome everyone to the Moose Mountain Pumpkin Patch.鈥�
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 For more information, call (306)-577-7655 or check out Moose Mountain Pumpkin Patch on Facebook.
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