PLATTSBURGH, N.Y. - Local farms take advantage of the
agritourism craze by building corn mazes.
Agritourism is any type of attraction that can bring revenue to farms.
Area farmers have been utilizing the strategy differently.
The 3.5 acre corn maze is only one
of many agritourism features at Rulf’s Orchard in Peru, New York.
“We even have an orchard to pick fresh
apples, freshly pressed apple cider, even take rides down to the pumpkin
patch.” said Derek Mckee, delivery driver and maintenance man.
In addition Rulf’s offers a night
maze two weekends out of the year and hosts a bonfire where visitors can drink
free fresh pressed apple cider.
Plattsburgh resident Marci Hamel,
business owner/ title searcher takes her children Nik (12) and Leah (9) to
Rulf’s. She said, “We like the challenge it’s a lot harder. We had fun hiding from each other, and
playing around for the first hour. Then we got so lost that we just took a
straight line for the second hour to finally get out of the maze.”
Fourteen miles away in Plattsburgh,
at Country Dreams farm, Owner Melissa Monty-Provost explains their agritourism
practices, “When you come to visit the maze,” she said, “We bring you to the
maze from the parking lot and give you a tour of the front side of the maze.
(We) take horses every weekend to transport people to the corn maze and pumpkin
patch field. We only use the tractors on the weekends if it is really busy or
if there is a special request such as boy scouts come into town.”
After the
Halloween season Country Dreams farm harvests their corn stalks to feed their
livestock’s that consist of goats, horses, chickens, donkeys, and cows. This is
a real operational animal and crop farm, it’s more than just a corn maze, there
is also a petting zoo, and a kids play area.” Monty-Prevost said.
When asked about the one thing that
people don’t know about her corn maze Monty-Provost responded, “I think people
don’t realize how much work we put in the maze. It’s our heart and soul.”
Hamel’s family also has visited Country Dreams
Farm. “Country Dreams is a lot of fun as well, because they have the petting
zoo, where they actually take you on a ride pulled by their very own horses.”
Two hours south on interstate 87 is Schuyler
Farm. The corn maze here is seven acres and has been around for 13 years.
Co-owner Ken Macica is proud to discuss how, “we use blueprints, and set the
field up on a paper grid showing each row of corn, and how they map out the
maze.”
Macica notes how the corn maze fits
in nicely with both the location of their farm and the other areas of their
business. Being right off the highway makes their greenhouses visible in the
spring and the corn maze in the fall.
One farm that uses the corn maze
completely differently than the others is Tucker Farm. The Corn maze is the
primary revenue generator in the fall according Vice President Tom Tucker.
Once September hits, Tucker Farm will
be in full swing harvesting their main product, seed potatoes. Potatoes happen
to be this year’s corn maze theme of Mr. and Mrs. Potato Head vacationing in
the Adirondacks.
According to Tucker, all of the
employees and the Tucker family come together to decide the theme of the eight
acre maze. They are proud that they design and manage the entire corn maze
themselves.
Plattsburgh area corn mazes range in
size from three to eight acres and have been in business between five and 13
years. Prices vary from $4 - $14. The mazes range from family friendly in the
daylight to haunted and spooky at night.
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