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Tuesday, March 19
The Indiana Daily Student

Freeman Family Farm opens following year-long hiatus

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It’s that time of year again. Pumpkins, hayrides and other fall activities. Halloween is just around the corner and so is the Freeman Family Farm and pumpkin patch.

This month, the Freeman Family Farm re-opened after its one-year hiatus due to I-69 construction. The family farm and pumpkin patch initially opened in 2000, and for the past 14 years has been open for families on the weekends during the month of October.

Besides acres of pumpkins to choose from, the farm also has hayrides, a petting zoo and a weed patch maze.

The Freeman family decided to try and get into this niche market in 2000. No one in the area was doing pumpkins at the time, so in October 2000 they opened their pumpkin patch for the first time.

They weren’t sure if they were going to open it again after the events of Sept. 11, 2001. However, the Freemans decided families needed something that wasn’t scary.

The pumpkin patch has now surpassed their initial expectations, from selling a couple loads of pumpkins to now approaching 80,000 pounds of pumpkins.

“It has reached far and touched and brought out the best of the community,” owner Mark Freeman said.

Families have been coming to the Freeman Family Farm year after year for the past 14 years. Freeman said it means so much to his family that people will drive out of their way to come to their house and buy a pumpkin from them.

Freeman said not being open last year made him understand that there are a lot of people who depend on the Freeman Farm for their pumpkins. The hiatus was also hard on the Freeman family itself.

“It was really hard on us because we had gotten into such a routine,” Freeman said. “We didn’t know what to do with ourselves, and we kind of missed everybody coming out.”

The Freemans were worried that people wouldn’t come back this year after the reopening because they didn’t do much advertising. Freeman said they have been very busy each weekend. He also said they never want to be closed again.

“We hope it goes on forever,” Freeman said, regarding their hopes for the future of the farm and pumpkin patch.

The farm is their home, but Freeman said it’s also more than just where they live. He described owning the farm as fun and ?rewarding.

Freeman also said the farm means everything to their family, and they are hopeful the farm and pumpkin patch will live on after them.

“Sharing our farm with others is an important thing,” Freeman said.

The Freeman Family Farm is located at 6220 S. Victor Pike in Bloomington, and it is open Saturdays and Sundays in October.

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