OCTOBER 2018 • COUNTRY LIFE IN BC


Pumpkin growers use crop to reach out to public


Direct sales reflect the true cost of production for seasonal offering


by RONDA PAYNE ABBOTSFORD – The Great


Pumpkin may bring toys to children in the Peanuts cartoon strip, but its plump kin at Surrey’s Rondriso Farms and Abbotsford’s Taves Family Farms need a little help to yield their gifts. Although the two farms


market their pumpkins a little differently, both operations don’t depend solely on pumpkins for their income. “We do beef cattle, we have


a cow-calf operation … we do all varieties of seasonal vegetables, we do hay … and the pumpkin patch,” says Ron Tamis, co-owner with his wife Pam of Rondriso. The Tamises are in their


thirteenth year of pumpkin sales. They started with one acre in pumpkins and expanded to six. They now sell about a dozen different varieties through their farm stand and u-pick patch. “The bulletproof one for me is the Magic Lantern,” Tamis says of his varieties. “It’s been around for years and years and years and it’s a good pumpkin. We’re known for having fairly large pumpkins.” Per acre, Tamis feels


pumpkins are his most profitable crop and he estimates they make up about 30% of his sales. Everything is sold through the on-farm store. There is a hayride from the entrance of the farm to the pumpkin patch, but there are no standard agri-tourism activities here. “We’re not your typical


pumpkin patch in that we don’t have the bouncy castles, we don’t have the petting zoo,” he explains. “People see our integrity as a true family farm and they know we have a good quality product and it keeps people coming back year after year.” If a family is looking for an


agri-tourism experience in their pumpkin hunt, Tamis points them elsewhere. Taves Family Farms is one option, and offers a wide range of family-oriented activities including hayrides, a pumpkin cannon, a sunflower patch and petting barn, to name just a few of the attractions. The farm also offers u-pick apples and the onsite Applebarn market.


Admission gives visitors access to the majority of the attractions, but the pumpkins are extra. It’s a different approach than Rondriso, where simplicity reigns. The only charge aside from the pumpkin is for the hayride, but that’s waived if a pumpkin is purchased. Loren Taves estimates the


pumpkin side of the operation accounts for 10% of the farm’s income. He offers about 50 varieties with Wolf, Magic Lantern, Orange


See PUMPKINS on next page o Loren and Corinne Taves of Taves Family Farms are looking forward to pumpkin season. RONDA PAYNE PHOTO


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