Local pumpkin patch offers wide variety of fall fun

The Kiefers’ family moved to Waterloo in 1954. Earl and Mary Laverna raised their family to appreciate commitment to provide quality produce. The Kiefers’ family is in its fourth generation. They have been selling since 1962. They sell a variety of plants including different types of pumpkins, including  Jack be little, warty pumpkins and many more. Flowers include mums, surfinas, wave petunias, zonal geraniums, begonias, million bells, inca marigolds, coleus, perilla, dahlias, gerber daisies, portulaca, moss roses and many more.

“We start selling pumpkins around the middle of September because people like to use them for decoration. Families that are using pumpkins for carvings for Halloween come throughout the month of October.”

The pumpkin patch includes multiple activities, with a total cost of $4, but for those who want to feed the goats, it’s fifty cents per cup. Two years and younger get in for free. The $4 entrance fee includes walking around to look at the inflatables and decorations, a hay ride and a haunted house.Those who are only going to look at pumpkins and squash don’t have to pay the $4 unless they want to participate in the other activities. The pumpkins, gourds, cornstalk bundles, straw bales and squashes have lots of varieties and sizes. Little pumpkins are $1. Squash are $1.50, and it’s $5-10 for big pumpkins.

People like all kinds of pumpkins, Julie said. “People do like some of what I call the specialty pumpkins. Those are the different colors, or the bumpy or the warty, but a lot of people just like a good orange pumpkin to carve.”

A memory Julie will always carry with her is, “Working with Rick, my husband, out in the field and bringing stuff up. It’s just fun to see all the families because there are just kids who are having such a good time, those that are coming year after year, and they need a picture year after year. It’s fun to watch the kids grow. I just think the whole experience is just fun for me. I enjoy it.”

Working at a family farm is a lot of work, Julie said. “It’s a lot of responsibility, and, secondarily, I try to just make it fun because if you’re having fun doing a job, then it’s really not work.”

There are a lot of inflatables set up for Halloween. Julie said, “There’s probably 35-40 inflatables around the yard: 20 up front of characters. The haunted house is pretty static, so we don’t tear it down each time. I will say it takes a couple of people probably two days each to set up everything outside. The hayride, too, has about 20 characters.”

Julie said she loves to watch the “other families have fun and the excitement that the kids have.”

The Kiefers’ farm is open from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. on the weekdays and on Saturday and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. The address is 4881 Texas Street in Waterloo.