A step back: After 35 years, farmers John and Jan Ulland hand over the Pumpkin Patch vines – Austin Daily Herald

This spring, John and Jan Ulland participated in the 100 Mile Garage Sale on the Mississippi when they stopped in Prescott, Wisconsin.

As the couple were just one of many attendees at this annual event, they were making their way to the cash register where they had stopped when the woman behind the counter made a remark about the Ullands.

“You’re Farmer John,” John remembered her saying before asking her how she knew them. The woman was a former teacher from Owatonna and, like so many Farmer Johns, had visited Farmer John’s pumpkin patch with her students.

Another woman behind the counter didn’t want to be outdone and added: “I know her too.”

“You have to be good everywhere you go,” joked John.

One such story is well known and often told when it comes to Farmer John’s pumpkin patch. For 35 years, the couple has invited schools and families to their Freeborn County farm to harvest pumpkins and have fall fun.

Now that their 36th year is upon us, they would like to continue the tradition, but without as much hands-on interaction from John and Jan. The reason for this is because they have decided to retire and hand the operation over to their son and daughter-in-law, Kirk and Mary Ulland.

However, this is easier said than done.

“I haven’t been very good at staying out of things,” John admits.

And it wasn’t necessarily John’s intention to do this, but an accident at home last December proved to be the deciding factor.

While John was shaking out the carpets at home, he fell and broke his neck.

“My doctor said that a C2 fracture in an 87-year-old man is usually and very often fatal,” John said. “She said, ‘Maybe it’s time you started acting your age.’ I’m trying.”

But it’s not something you give up easily. Both John and Jan have enjoyed the idea of ​​inviting families, especially children, to their property and providing them with an experience that is often passed on to the next generation.

“I still can’t give up on the kids coming here,” John said. “There are just so many great things happening here.”

A travel destination of

Coincidence

The Ullands never intended to create Farmer John’s Pumpkin Patch. It all happened by accident.

Since I had a degree in animal husbandry, the property was initially intended to be a farm, but as time went on, the opportunity gradually arose to do more with it.

They gave up raising cattle and focused on the farmers markets they ran in Austin and Albert Lea. During this time, the area where the cattle grazed became overgrown with weeds. To combat this, it was decided to plant pumpkins to keep the weeds under control.

In return, John and his then partner Juan Espinoza took the pumpkins and sold them in communities in Minnesota and Wisconsin.

Then one of John’s closest friends, Dean Zellar, came to John with a request.

“My grandchildren have never seen where anything grows. Can I take them outside?” John remembered saying.

“They are the ones who labeled him ‘Farmer John,'” Jan added.

From that point on there was no turning back.

“I hadn’t even thought about doing this,” John said. “Once you start, you just can’t stop. I love the kids, and where else can kids go to see something develop? We tried to make it so that anyone can come here.”

And they have. For over three decades, the site has been a popular fall destination. Classes from surrounding schools in Mower, Freeborn and neighboring counties visit regularly, and families invoke a time-honored tradition of making the farm a destination each year.

“You see people coming in, very often it’s grandparents, parents and children,” said Jan. “Especially on Sundays. Sunday seems to be a really big family day. Very often it’s a three-generation thing here.”

Not only can families and children pick pumpkins straight from the stalks, there are other experiences too, including a silo for children to play in, a barn stocked with treats – including Jan’s jam – and a dog and cats who are happy to say hello.

For the classes that visit, John carves a pumpkin and gives them a tour of the farm, which includes tractor rides that are also part of regular visiting hours. It’s all part of a once in a lifetime experience that many remember for years after the visit.

“People keep coming back,” John said.

Learning over time

This year, as he has done for many years, Kirk John wanted to help plant pumpkins for the coming growing season, but as in life in general, things change on the Ulland farm.

For the first time in years, John and Jan took a vacation in northern Minnesota in June, something they don’t normally have the opportunity to do.

“They’ve mostly stayed out of the pumpkin planting,” Kirk said, his smile widening. “It’s one of those things he’s been trying to teach me about planting for the last 10 years, but then he just does it because I’m busy doing something else.”

“We learned something this year,” he continued, his smile now fuller. “We learned something this year and they were gone and it was wet and muddy and rainy. It was a learning experience this year. Maybe we’ve overcome that challenge.”

Farmer John Ulland shows a dried pumpkin to Woodson Kindergarten students during his visit to Farmer John’s pumpkin patch in 2010. Herald archive photo

Both Kirk and Mary, as well as the Ullands’ other daughter and her husband Deb and Dean Mueller, have helped at Farmer John’s Pumpkin Patch for the past 15 to 20 years and began managing the farmers market in 2012 when they began training.

“We’ve been at the market ever since and they take care of the field,” Mary said. “During the season, we helped here with whatever we could do in the field while running the farmers market here and in Albert Lea.”

The couple also found it entertaining to see people sharing their experiences with their own children and grandchildren.

They believe in what Farmer John’s has to offer and have every intention of continuing to invite people to the farm.

“We plan to keep going because it’s just so nice to see the families come and see how many years they’ll come,” Kirk said. “Hopefully we can do this until we’re 88.”

Yet even as John and Jan take advantage of more opportunities to “take more breaks together,” as Jan puts it, it is evident that for many, retirement may not have the meaning it does.

“We want to make sure people also know that John and Jan will be here and that he is capable of doing this,” Mary stressed.

But there is a benefit to continuing. Farmer John’s is not just an entertaining experience. It is a learning experience.

“I think it needs to continue because you don’t see it anymore,” Kirk said.

The experience

Business

Over the years, Farmer John’s has been the setting for just about every occasion imaginable. One family has used the farm to celebrate their children’s yearly progress and used the pictures at their graduation ceremonies, and businesses have used the space for parties.

“We’re in the experience business,” John said. “People are creating memories, so we try to offer photo ops so they can go in with their cameras.”

They have helped a man propose to his wife and much, much more. The stories alone could go on forever and often the memories they create are lost.

“What is so distinctive about him?” asked Jan. “Little children in the store, out of the blue. When they go to a concert or even a symphony. From here they recognize him everywhere.”

But the family wouldn’t want it any other way, even on days that extend well into the afternoon and evening.

“When they’re having fun out there, you just have to keep smiling,” said Jan. “It’s the people. The children.”

“That’s the ‘why,’” confirms John.

Farmer John’s Pumpkin Patch is open to the public daily from September 28th through October 31st. Except for MEA Day, it is open from 3pm to 6pm. On weekends, it is open from noon to 6pm.