By Ron Wilson, director of the Huck Boyd National Institute for Rural Development at Kansas State University.

What did you grow for 4-H? 4-H members grow and create all kinds of things as projects these days. This week, we meet a 4-H family that started out growing pumpkins, and ended up growing a remarkable family business.

Janet and Larry Schaake own and operate Schaake’s Pumpkin Patch on the family farm in Douglas County. Larry grew up on this farm, and Janet grew up on a place west of Lawrence.

Larry and Janet have three daughters -- Sheila, Sharla, and Shari -- and a son named Scott. Scott is a professor in the K-State animal science department and coach of the K-State livestock judging team. The daughters live in the Lawrence area.

When the Schaake kids were young, they all participated in 4-H. One year they grew pumpkins as a horticulture project. When they had extra pumpkins, they weren’t quite sure what to do with them.

Janet said, “We parked a pickup truck up by the road and put the extra pumpkins on there, along with a cigar box for people to leave money if they wanted to buy them.” A marketing expert might call that a rather passive strategy, but it worked for a couple of years.

After seeing that there was market demand for pumpkins, the Schaake kids set up a stand at the farmer’s co-op parking lot in following years. Janet said, “Then the U-picks were becoming popular about that time, so rather than picking and moving all those pumpkins, we decided to open up the farm so people could come get pumpkins themselves.”

This was the beginning of Schaake’s Pumpkin Patch, which has become a remarkable autumn attraction. Now the Schaake kids are grown, but they still come back to help with the pumpkin patch every fall. Janet said, “We’re up to 25 acres of pumpkins.”

“After 34 years, we don’t know how to stop it,” she said with a smile.

Schaakes Pumpkin Patch is open daily from the last weekend of September through October 31. Admission and hay rack rides to the field are free. People can pick their own pumpkins, which are sold by the pound. Visitors from all over come on the weekends, and school tours come during the weekdays.

Activities for kids include a hay bale maze, straw romp, farm animals for viewing, and a photo area. The Schaakes have 35 varieties of pumpkins, ranging in size from a half-pound to more than 200 pounds, plus gourds, squash, Indian corn, corn shocks, straw, fall crafts and decorations, and more. Craft items include painted birdhouse gourds, Indian corn wreaths and painted pictures of pumpkins and gourds.

This is truly a family affair. Every fall, Larry and Janet’s daughters and husbands pitch in to help, along with Scott and his wife Kandi.

Janet said, “The girls do a lot of the crafts.” The 10 grandkids and local high school youth help out on the busy weekends.

“It’s surprising how many people have never seen a pumpkin picked right off the vine,” Janet said. This is an opportunity to promote agriculture. One satisfaction we get is seeing the education which happens.”

“We all enjoy the kids,” she added. “We’ve watched kids who came here, grew up, and now they’re bringing their own kids. It always makes you feel good that you’re offering positive family entertainment.”

The Schaake farm is located just a half-mile from Highway 10, so it offers good access for city folks who want to have a rural experience. About two-thirds of their customers come from Johnson County. Tens of thousands of people come to visit, including urban and suburban school groups. The Schaake’s place is about halfway between Lawrence and the rural community of Eudora, population 4,411 people. Now, that’s rural.

For more information, go to www.schaakespumpkinpatch.com.

What did you grow for 4-H? Today we’ve learned about an entrepreneurial 4-H family which grew pumpkins and a rural family business as well. We commend Larry and Janet Schaake and all the family for making a difference with their horticultural entrepreneurship. Perhaps their example will encourage other rural attractions to flourish on the vine.

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The mission of the Huck Boyd National Institute for Rural Development is to enhance rural development by helping rural people help themselves. The Kansas Profile radio series and columns are produced with assistance from the K-State Research and Extension Department of Communications News Unit. A photo of Ron Wilson is available at  http://www.ksre.ksu.edu/news/sty/RonWilson.htm.  Audio and text files of Kansas Profiles are available at http://www.kansasprofile.com. For more information about the Huck Boyd Institute, interested persons can visit http://www.ksre.ksu.edu/huckboyd/.

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