The NAFDMA bus tour drew more than 225 attendees from across the United States, Canada and England and traveled through Lancaster and surrounding counties to learn more about direct farm marketing and agritourism. The tour was shortened by a half day due to 20 inches of snow that fell Feb. 5.

Lancaster County consistently ranks number one among all counties in the United States on the chart of direct sales from farms to consumers by USDA’s Census of Agriculture. The population in Lancaster County is about 500,000. Of that, the Amish population is about 25,000. Lancaster County welcomes nearly 11 million visitors each year. Peak tourist season is August through October. The county hosts 11,000 motor coaches each year.

From left, Darrell Geisler, Angie Plager and Malinda Geisler.

Growing Family Fun was represented at the 2010 Iowa Fruit & Vegetable Growers & Marketers Conference held Jan. 29-30 in Des Moines. Staff member Angie Plager gave a presentation on Making Your Farm More Accessible to Visitors. She addressed how the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990 applies to farm venues. For more information on ADA, visit: www.access-board.gov/adaag/about/.

Darrell Geisler, co-owner of Growing Family Fun, was elected to a three-year term on the Iowa Fruit and Vegetable Growers Association’s board of directors. Malinda Geisler, representing Iowa State University’s Value Added Agriculture Program, served on the conference planning committee.

More than 200 people, including about 20 vendors, attended the conference. The meeting was held in partnership of the Iowa Fruit & Vegetable Growers Association, Visit Iowa Farms and the Iowa Department of Agriculture. The USDA Specialty Crops Block Grant Program provided funding. Additional sponsors included ISU’s Value Added Ag Program, Iowa Farm Bureau and Hy-Vee. The conference program had general sessions plus breakout sessions for beginning farmers, fruits, vegetables and agritourism.

Thank you to our maze customers for their generous food contributions.

The segment is located on the Living the Country Life Web site. Go to www.livingthecountrylife.com and select Video/TV. Under the Living the Country Life Videos, select Country Life. On the Country Life video page, select Agritourism.

The Living the Country Life TV show and its companion magazine are published by Meredith Corporation in Des Moines.

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.