Schaake’s Pumpkin Patch faced a hot and dry growing season this summer but still plans to open Saturday.

The weather has affected the pumpkin patch, but the Schaake family does not know to what extent.

“The vines, I think, suffered some this year. So, you know, in the years past, they’ve been worse,”  Sharla Dressler said. “But that’s the worst part. You know, you never know what your crop looks like until people get out there and start beating them down, or we have a freeze.”

Sheila Schaake and Dressler said last year was one of their best seasons for pumpkins.

“And every year we say, there’s nothing out there. There’s nothing out there. And then we’re surprised because, knock on wood, they really are out there,” Dressler said. 

The pumpkin patch got its start in 1975 when the eldest siblings, Scott and Sheila Schaake, began growing pumpkins as a 4-H project. As the pumpkin business began to grow, their mother Janet Schaake said it created an opportunity to show the public daily life on the farm. 

“It was just another way of introducing them to farm life and giving them an idea of how their farms run,” she said.

From June to November, the pumpkin patch is in full swing, beginning with the planting of the seeds to letting the cattle out in the patch to eat the leftover pumpkins. 

Dressler said the pumpkin vines can be as large as several feet tall, which is one reason they are unable to estimate how many pumpkins they have this season. 

“It takes some digging. And then until we get down under there and people start knocking the vines down, we don’t really know what the numbers are,” Dressler said.”

The pumpkin patch will open Saturday and run through Oct. 30. Opening hours are noon to 6 p.m. Monday through Thursday and 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Friday through Sunday. 

Dressler said what sets their pumpkin patch apart is that they do not charge an admission fee for the patch, which includes a playground and hay maze. 

“You can come out and spend all day, and we have people come out every week and play and look at pumpkins and, you know, they’ll buy one once in a while. But for the most part, you know, we just keep it simple,” she said. “It makes people happy that they can come and do it, and it makes us happy that we can provide that service.”

Reach reporter Hannah Nystrom at [email protected]