“My kids wanted to do it and it was an experiment that has gone well,” he said. “At first it was just a small pumpkin patch. Then it just grew.” The pumpkin patch opens on Oct. 1 and runs until the end of the month. “There are days when we have more than 100 cars in the parking lot,” Rickey said. “We get hundreds of people and lots of visiting schools.” The centerpiece is an acre of pumpkins and a large hay bale platform. Rickey grows some of the pumpkins and buys more from other growers. “We get new pumpkins all the time so there are always fresh ones,” he said. A hay ride takes visitors on a 10-minute ride to view the farm animals in the pasture. Along the route, there are old farm vehicles and even a “pirate ship” that Rickey decks out with skeletons in the spirit of Halloween. The former packing house is transformed into haunted CONTINUED ON PAGE 12
GRANITE BAY VIEW • OCTOBER 2018
GBV Oct 2018.indd 11
11
10/5/18 4:34 PM