Growing Family Fun

It’s pumpkin season at Growing Family Fun. We have pumpkins of all sizes as well as corn shocks, straw, winter squash, gourds, mums, ear corn and other fall decorations.   Small pumpkins are priced by size ($1, $2) and jack o-lantern pumpkins are priced at 35 cents per pound. There is no admission to purchase pumpkins.

Sixth annual Maze for Marfan Fall Fest
Join us Oct. 8-10 for Maze for Marfan Fall Fest. Geisler Farms will donate $1 for each paid corn maze admission to the Heart of Iowa Marfan Chapter. The Heart of Iowa Chapter will also have merchandise available to order or purchase that weekend, including candles, Tastefully Simple and “Recipes from the Heart” cookbooks.

Music at the Maze during October
On Saturday, Oct. 9, singer-songwriter Scott Stilwell will provide music in the Red Shed beginning at 8 p.m. during Fall Fest weekend. Stilwell will perform selections from his self-produced CD “Witness.” He is director of music and fine arts at West Des Moines Christian Church. There is no charge to enjoy the music inside the Red Shed. There is an admission fee for those who wish to enter the corn maze.

On Saturday, Oct. 16, singer-songwriter and guitarist Ryan Sheeler of Ames will perform pop, rock and country music at the Red Shed beginning at 8 p.m.

Stilwell returns on Friday, Oct. 22 with the group Donny Lost ‘n’ The Midway to perform favorite cover tunes beginning at 8 p.m. The group performed at Grandfathers Farm at the 2010 Iowa State Fair. 

Buy Fresh Buy Local
Growing Family Fun is a member of the Iowa Chapter of Buy Fresh Buy Local. In addition to acorn and butternut squash, we are happy to offer homemade jam from Clear Creek Orchard of Collins.  We carry strawberry, red raspberry, black raspberry, blackberry and apple cinnamon. At $4 per jar, it makes an affordable gift.

Take a Spin
A new daytime attraction for 2010 is the pedal kart track. There are two green pedal go-karts for youth ages two to eight. The red karts will fit kids ages seven to adult (up to 350 pounds). Even if you haven’t ridden a bicycle in years, you are invited to take a spin around our rocked track.

Engagement at the Corn Maze
Congratulations to Keri Michel and Jacob Leonard for becoming engaged during their Sept. 24 visit to the corn maze at Geisler Farms. The couple plans to exchange vows on Sept. 24, 2011, in Des Moines.

Greetings from Growing Family Fun. Our sixth season begins Saturday, Sept. 4 and runs through Sunday, Oct. 31. The hours are 10 a.m. to last admission 8 p.m. on Saturdays and 12 to last admission 6 p.m. on Sundays. The maze will also be open on Labor Day, Sept. 6 from 12 to 6 p.m.

We Have Cotton
When you arrive to the farm, you will see a hedge of plants along the south edge of the parking lot. It is cotton. While cotton is not normally grown in Iowa, we think it is an interesting crop because the blooms change color before becoming a boll. You can read more about cotton and Ankeny’s connection inside the Red Shed.

Moon Walk Sept. 22-24
You are invited to visit during the Harvest Moon Walk Sept. 22-24. Begin your maze exploration between 6 and 8 p.m. those nights. Bring a flashlight so that you can read your maze map. China and other Asian countries celebrate the Harvest Moon Festival on the 15th day of the eighth month of the lunar calendar when the moon is the brightest. The Chinese regard the full moon as a symbol of luck, harmony and abundance.

Try a Pie
We have take and bake apple pie and apple crisp available as you prepare for the holidays. There are two versions of apple pie available, a regular piecrust and a Dutch or crumble crust. This just-like-homemade product keeps well in the freezer. Take one home for just $9.

Reserve a Firepit
There is still time to reserve a firepit for your group. We ask for a minimum of 10 paid admissions for the group experience. Bring your own food, beverages and enjoy the camaraderie around the LP-firepit and a group hayride. Please contact us on the Web site or via e-mail to reserve a firepit. There is a $5 group fee for use of the firepit payable at check-in. The first Friday night of October is already booked.

Upcoming Events
Maze for Marfan Fall Fest is Oct. 9-10. Volunteers from the Heart of Iowa Marfan Chapter will be helping with Growing Family Fun throughout October.

Greetings from Growing Family Fun

This is the first issue of the 2010 season. This fall marks the sixth year for the corn maze at Growing Family Fun. The farm will be open on weekends from Saturday, Sept. 6 through Saturday, Oct. 31.

2010 Maze Theme
This year’s theme is the 20th anniversary of the creation of the World Wide Web. Symbols included in this year’s maze include http://www, a curser, hour glass, laptop computer and the @ sign. For added fun, instead of the usual 10 hidden fence posts in the maze, this time you are invited to find up to 20 places hidden in the maze. If you are visiting at night, please bring your own flashlight.

WorldWideWeb, as it was originally written, was the first web browser to support hypertext files. HTTP stands for Hypertext Transfer Protocol and is used to transfer documents from web servers to web browsers. HTTP is used to also serve images, sound and other content besides HTML. It was released to the public in 1993.

New Attractions
New in 2010 are pedal karts and a racetrack. We have two child-sized pedal karts and four adult-size karts for you to take turns on. This activity is part of the regular corn maze admission during daylight hours.

We have a new, one-of-a-kind maze attraction that is Geisler built for your enjoyment. There are two identical table mazes. Get on one of the four sides of the six-foot by six-foot table maze balanced on a center pedestal to maneuver a ball from one corner to the other.

Early Bird Reservations
We are now taking group reservations for this fall. If you have not tried our group experience, we ask for 10 paid admissions. Bring your own food and enjoy the camaraderie around the LP-firepit and a group hayride. Please contact us on the Web site or via e-mail to reserve a firepit for fall 2010. There is a $5 group fee for use of the firepit payable at check-in.

See you at the Iowa State Fair
If you plan to visit the Iowa State Fair August 12-22, please stop by the Iowa Fruit and Vegetable Growers Association’s food stand in the Agriculture Building. It is located next to the stairs on the west side of the building. Purchase a refreshing red raspberry smoothie or scrumptious strawberry shortcake. The Geislers will be working at the booth on Saturday, August 21. The 2009 Iowa State Fair queen named this booth as her favorite food booth.

Help your neighbor
Thanks to the great response we had to the Share the Bounty food drive in 2009, we are going to continue it in 2010. Bring a nonperishable food item and receive $1 off your corn maze admission (limit 1 food item/person). Last year’s Share the Bounty food drive collected 937 food items plus a monetary donation for the Des Moines Area Religious Council’s Emergency Food Pantry.

Greetings from Growing Family Fun

During this time of thanksgiving, we wish to express our gratitude to our customers, volunteers and staff for helping make the 2009 season such a success. We appreciate your support and interest in our family farm.

Staff pumpkin decorating results
Creativity in pumpkin decorating was showcased at Growing Family Fun during October. Part-time staff members at the farm were invited to participate in the first pumpkin decorating contest. They were allowed to decorate, not carve their pie pumpkin entries. Votes were cast from Oct. 10 through Oct. 31. Here are the People’s Choice awards for the following categories: 

Funniest, “Crazy Daryl,” by Matt Righi, Bondurant.
Scariest, “Scary Clown,” by Joshua Mosher, Bondurant.
Most original, “Linus and Snoopy waiting for the Great Pumpkin,” by Becky Plager, Cambridge.
Honorable mention goes to “The World,” by Zachary Quick, Bondurant. Photos of the entries are posted on the Growing Family Fun Website.

Maze for Marfan Results Oct. 9-11
Who would have predicted that October would be one of the wettest and coldest on record? The first night of frost also resulted in measurable snowfall on Fall Fest weekend. Yet, we had 438 brave maze customers during Maze for Marfan weekend. Growing Family Fun donated $1 for each corn maze admission Oct. 9-11 to the Heart of Iowa Marfan Chapter.

Growing Family Fun to be on RFD-TV
Growing Family Fun owners Darrell and Malinda Geisler were interviewed for an upcoming segment on Living the Country Life television show. This rural lifestyle program by Des Moines-based Meredith Corporation can be seen on RFD-TV. The Growing Family Fun feature is scheduled to air on Tuesday, Dec. 22 at 6:30 p.m., Wednesday, Dec. 23 at 8:30 p.m. and Sunday, Dec. 27 at 9:30 p.m.

Back 40
The Share the Bounty food drive collected 937 food items plus a monetary donation from corn maze customers. The food donations were given to the Des Moines Area Religious Council’s Emergency Food Pantry. The council serves short-term food needs at nine locations.

Congratulations to Monica Congdon, Carol Elliott, Denise Obrecht, and Jamie Smith. They won $25 Casey’s General Store gift cards in the Growing Family Fun drawing at the maze.

Our sixth corn maze season will be Saturday, Sept. 4 through Sunday, Oct. 31, 2010.

This is our final newsletter for 2009. Season’s Greetings from Growing Family Fun.

Greetings from Growing Family Fun

It’s pumpkin season at Growing Family Fun. We have pumpkins of all sizes as well as corn shocks, straw, winter squash, gourds, mums, ear corn and other fall decorations.  

“It is not too early to hunt for the perfect Halloween pumpkin,” says co-owner Darrell Geisler. “Pumpkins and winter squash store well in a dry, cool place until you are ready to carve or consume them,” he says.

See our display at the Bass Pro Shops, Altoona
Geisler Farms was invited to create a harvest display near the waterfall at the new Bass Pro Shops five miles south of the farm in Altoona. The display features Joe Scarecrow, straw bales, various pumpkins, gourds and a corn shock.

Fifth annual Maze for Marfan Fall Fest
Join us Oct. 9-11 for Maze for Marfan Fall Fest. Geisler Farms will donate $1 for each paid corn maze admission to the Heart of Iowa Marfan Chapter. Since 2005, this event has helped raise $3,000 for the chapter.

Ms. Wheelchair Iowa 2009, Angie Plager of Cambridge, will be at Geisler Farms on Sunday afternoon, Oct. 11 to discuss accessibility issues. Plager, who works part-time at Geisler Farms, completed the 10-acre corn maze in one hour.

Music at the Maze featuring Scott Stilwell
On Friday, Oct. 9, singer-songwriter Scott Stilwell will provide music in the Red Shed beginning at 7 p.m. to kick off Fall Fest weekend. Stilwell will perform selections from his self-produced CD “Witness.” He is director of music and fine arts at West Des Moines Christian Church. There is no charge to enjoy the music inside the Red Shed. There is a charge for those who wish to enter the corn maze.

Married in the Maze
Congratulations to Bob and Dora who were married in the Growing Family Fun corn maze on 09/09/09. The couple exchanged vows while standing in the first nine of the 1969 that is tilled into the 10-acre corn maze design. This year’s maze theme is Apollo 11. The couple traveled by hayrack to the ceremony site in the maze along with their bridal party. They enjoyed a hayride around the cornfield following the ceremony.

Back 40
The Harvest Moon Walk is Oct. 2-4. Visit the corn maze during a full harvest moon. Bring a flashlight to read your maze map.

We have delicious take and bake apple pie and apple crisp available for $9 each. The product is made at a bakery in Minnesota and keeps well in the freezer.

During October, Growing Family Fun will be open from 6 p.m. to last admission at 8 p.m. on Fridays.