The pumpkin patch on opening day.
Sugar-Salem FFA was approached in early October 2023 by a local small business about helping start a pumpkin patch. The idea was simple: Members would grow the pumpkins and sell them, along with weekly events for the community to participate in. Although the chapter was hesitant at first, it partnered with Food Dudes to make this idea a reality.
Planting the Seed
Preparations for the patch began in May, when members planted pounds of pumpkins seeds. From that point, they visited the patch once a week to weed and make sure everything was growing according to plan.
Members worked hard to find the best ways to weed their pumpkin patch without harming the plants. They also made many great memories by having competitions to see who could weed the most in the time they were there. The top winners were Taylor and Shelby Young, who each spent more than 30 hours weeding the patch. In total, the chapter spent more than 130 hours weeding throughout the four months it worked on growing the pumpkins.
Sharing the Harvest
After the pumpkins became fully grown, members decided to start their fall festivities with a field trip from the local elementary school. Members spent lots of time thinking about activities they remembered loving from past field trips spent at pumpkin patches.
In the end, members decided on two parts: One that taught students about how to plant and grow their own pumpkins and another that had them do iconic fall activities. Students went through rotations that taught them about soil, how to extract seeds from a pumpkin, watering and harvesting the pumpkins.
After they finished, they went over to the corn pit to find a prize before beginning a race. This started with ring toss, then involved running through a straw maze, stacking pumpkins and competing in a potato sack race. The students loved it, and at the end they received vouchers to come back to a pumpkin carving event the next month.
Reaping What We Sow
Once the word got out about the field trip, it was time to for the chapter’s opening night. Members were so excited to see their long hours and hard work finally pay off.
“Working on the pumpkin patch this summer was very hard,” says FFA member Taylor Young. “But in the end, it was exciting to work at the pumpkin patch and see how much our community supported us.”
Throughout the fall season, the chapter had many exciting events that brought their community together. In addition to food truck nights, the chapter hosted a carving contest and a First Responders night. When the Sugar-Salem FFA marketing team competed at national convention in October and needed help running the patch, the Sugar-Salem Music Department decided to step in and host a few activities.
Overall, the Sugar-Salem FFA Chapter found the pumpkin patch fundraiser to be a success, as members learned leadership skills, how to run a business and how to market it to their community.
Want to see more stories like this? Visit the FFA in the USA webpage here.
