Craven Farms: Place of fairy tales, hay bales and pumpkin trails

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BY HEATHER CLARKE

Combine favorite childhood fairy tales, the harvest season and loads of farm fun and you’ve got yourself Craven Farm, a one-of-a-kind family-focused destination that is guaranteed to be a good time.

Craven Farm was purchased by Mark Craven’s grandparents 60 years ago. Originally it was a dairy farm, but they started to phase that out in the 1970s. It wasn’t long after they stopped dairy farming that Mark got the idea to plant a pumpkin patch. Judy Craven was thinking about how to get children to the farm to visit the pumpkin patch and creatively developed story book themes that tied into the pumpkin patch and the farm. The combination was a huge hit with more than 1,000 kids visiting in the first year.

Now, 27 years later, Judy and Mark have had thousands of families come through and they are still having fun sharing the farm and harvest experience with the use of childhood stories.

One of the most popular activities at the farm is a story time tour. The kids are greeted by a bright orange pumpkin and are given a cookie while they learn all about the farm and where their food comes from. Harvest girl uses puppets to tell the children a story about Farmer Mark and the field mice eating the pumpkins. The kids learn that food comes from more than just the grocery store through a fun, interactive story.

In addition to the story time, kids can venture through the one-of-a-kind 15-acre corn maze on the farm. With a theme of “Alice in Pumpkin Land” the children love following the story of Alice as she tries to find her way out of pumpkin land. The maze has three hidden rooms that are always an adventure to find.

With a 20-acre pumpkin field you are sure find just the right pumpkin for you, which you can pick right from the field. Hop aboard a tractor-pulled hay ride through corn field lane and enjoy fun pumpkin scenes along the way.

Scattered throughout the farm are interactive play areas all based on stories from books or movies. You can play in the teepee and canoe in the Punkihontas area, climb aboard the ship in Pirates of the Pumpkin
Patch, or sit in the throne of the Queen and King of Pumpkins area. The throne, which is under a sign that says “just a pumpkin,” has been around for so long that Judy is now seeing parents who once sat in the throne as an infant bring in their children for a portrait.

“It just gives me goose bumps to think we made a nice positive impression in their childhood and they are now sharing it with their little ones,” shares Judy. “We love creating a happy atmosphere where children are creating lifelong memories.”

It would be hard to not have a good time at Craven Farm.

In addition to all the harvest activities they also offer tons of delectable treats. Chili or clam chowder bread bowls, buttered corn on the cob, fresh donuts, kettle corn and espresso are just some of the food choices available at the farm. You can shop in their gift shops or pick up some apple cider, kale, squash or mums at the harvest market.

The Cravens grow a lot of vegetables on site, especially in the fall. They offer sweet corn, gourds, corn stalks, and 10 varieties of squash. They sell kale, mums and apples that come from local businesses.

Admission to the farm is free, with some activities requiring a small fee.

“We want the farm to be affordable for as many families and children as possible. We hope they come out, have a good time, learn about where their food comes from, and ultimately realize how important farming is,” says Judy.

Visits to Craven Farm, located just outside Snohomish, have become a long-standing family tradition for many area families. It’s not uncommon to hear guests who have been coming for 20+ years.

In addition to creating harvest memories for thousands of children, the Craven’s also offer weddings and birthday party services. Most of the weddings are held in the Corn Room, a patch of grass surrounded by corn at the base of a hill. Just this past summer 23 weddings were held on the farm.

“We have become a popular wedding destination. It’s a beautiful setting and it’s a pleasure and a treasure to share the farm with people during the summer months,” adds Judy.

In addition to everything else, Mark Craven is an avid collector of vintage Halloween decorations. In fact, Mark even hosts an annual Vintage Holiday Show on the farm, a show so unique that it’s only one of two such shows in the country! The show has anywhere from 15 to 16 dealers, from across the country, who come out for a day and sell their vintage items (older than 1970) to the public. Admission is $4 and the show will be held this year on November 21 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

“The vintage holiday show, the weddings, the birthday parties – they are all ways to get different groups of people out to the farm,” says Mark.

“Most of these visitors would never have come out to the farm, but because of these special events they get out here and see what we are doing. They like what they see and we often see them back here for a pumpkin in the fall,” adds Mark.

When asked what he likes most about the farm, Mark Craven says, “I like the people and I like how happy they are when they come to the farm. They have a fun farm experience as they get to pick their own pumpkin or bring home fresh farm vegetables.”

Once you’ve been to Craven Farm, you can’t help but come back year after year. Although many of the stories and themes stay the same, they never get old and they keep all the visitors young at heart.

Craven Farms is open daily in October from 9:30 a.m. until dark on weekdays and from 9:30 a.m. until 5:30 p.m. on weekends. For more information call (360) 568-2601 or visit www.cravenfarm.com.