Jill Blase, Owner, Blase Family Farm
This is definitely a fall like no other. So many of our autumn traditions are on hold, modified or canceled altogether.
One autumnal fixture that’s back is the pumpkin. Whether it’s carved into a smiling Jack-O-Lantern, served in a pie, or displayed on your front porch as a fall decoration, its return is very much welcome.
Something else that’s welcome and just the ticket for those wanting to celebrate the fall weather is a trip to an area pumpkin patch.
One patch bursting with pumpkins of all sizes and varieties is Blase Family Farm in Rockwall.
Photo: Blase Family Farm
Husband and wife, Chris and Jill Blase founded the farm back in 2011. Before it was a farm, it was a wooded area next door to their home. When the property went up for sale they learned it was zoned commercially. Concerned a business would be built and the beautiful wooded area would be lost, they decided to purchase the plot and start a family business with their two children, Brandon and Emily.
Chris grew up on a dairy farm in South Dakota but swore farming was behind him once he became an adult. Jill said he had a change of heart once the couple had children.
“He wanted the kids to experience all the good things about farming, like being outside, seeing the fruits of your labor grow, and just working together as a family.”
So instead of cows, the Blases opted for a pick-your-own blueberries crop for the summer months and a pumpkin patch for fall.
Photo: Blase Family Farm
Visitors to this patch will find more than pumpkins. There’s a small petting zoo where you can feed (and pet) a variety of animals including a llama, sheep, a donkey, a mini horse, and pigs, a hay maze that’s just the right size for little adventurers, and a hayride that drives around the property.
Spookley the Square Pumpkin. Photo: Blase Family Farm
Guests can also take a stroll down a wooded path where they’ll find storyboards of Spookley the Square Pumpkin.
“It’s a really beautiful story and it’s great for all ages,” said Blase. “Spookley is the official Spokes-Pumpkin for National Bullying Prevention Month, which is in October.”
To allow for social distancing and to control crowd size admission to the farm is by appointment only this year. You can sign up for a spot on the farm’s website. Masks are also requested.
Pumpkin Patch season at Blase Family Farm runs daily through Nov. 1 this year.
“We absolutely love making memories with families,” said Blase. “We really feel like it’s a lovely, relaxing place to be with the trees, the pumpkins and everything fall.”
For even more perfect patches, check out Art&Seek’s complete list of pumpkin patches and fall fun.
Got a tip? Email Therese Powell at [email protected]. You can follow her on Twitter @TheresePowell13
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