Red Cedar Farm offers patchwork of pumpkins

LOFALL — Twenty-five days and counting...

For most residents in North Kitsap Halloween falls in a 24-hour time slot. Sure, there may be a few days spent digging up last year’s decorations, buying a costume, candy and the odd party preparations, but in most cases that’s it.

Andrea and Greg Sampson of Lofall used to have these types of experiences, but for the past four years it seems the entire month of October has been spent beautifying their scenic Red Cedar Farm and making sure that everything is just so for the thousands who come to visit.

The first group, 22 first graders from Peace Lutheran, stopped by Friday morning taking in the views of the region on a traditional hayride with “Pete the tractor driver” at the helm. At the word “pumpkin pie,” they were on their way.

According to Andrea, the farm has already booked 130 tours and expects upward of 5,500 children to take a walk through the corn maze, pet some animals, enjoy some homemade cookies and pick their own pumpkin.

“That’s a lot of kids... a lot of kids,” she said with a laugh. “People always leave here with a smile.”

With baby chicks, goats, miniature donkeys, Otto the cow and Henry “the woman-hating” goose, it’s not difficult to see why.

So, what is up with Henry?

“He loves my husband. He loves the carpenter, but he wants nothing to do with me — and I brought him here,” Sampson said with a smile.

She and her husband and sons Zack and Parker got into the “pumpkin patch scene” after taking the advice of a friend.

“We had been living here for years and someone finally said you could do these tours here,” Sampson said, noting that her family warmed to the idea.

But the annual pumpkin patch isn’t only about Halloween, she remarked. It’s also about educating children on what it takes to run a working farm.

“We’re proud of our farm and a lot of kids think that it’d be fun to live here but it’s a lot of work,” Sampson said, adding that, “No, we don’t hand them a shovel and put them to work.”

The family grew their own big orange gourds this year which has given Sampson something else to smile about.

“My favorite thing about pumpkins is the color — I love that pumpkin color,” she said, surveying the vast patch.

Red Cedar Farm’s

big orange pumpkins

27054 Lofall Road

(360) 697-7770

Tours by reservation only —

Weekdays 9:30 a.m.-6:30 p.m.

Saturdays 9:30 a.m.-3:30 p.m.

Open to the general public

Oct. 27 and 28, 11 a.m.-6 p.m.

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