The Blaine County Journal News-Opinion - We've Got The County Covered

Reporter's note: Alert readers may recall that during the last few years my wife, Sherry, and I have worked each October at Biringer's Black Crow Pumpkins and Corn Maze. It's a family owned u-pick corn patch and corn maze near Arlington, Washington just off I-5 north of Seattle. This was my fifth year at the patch owned by Gary and Julie Biringer. Sherry and I decided it was our last year to work the patch as it became harder and harder to spend a month away from home. Still, it was a great run and a lot of fun.

When Sherry and I moved to Arlington I was looking for something to do and got a job at Biringer's Berry Farm, owned by Gary's parents. I was a row boss, then picking boss on a 24-row picking machine and eventually ran the safety program for the farm. Gary helped on the berry farm and knew me from my work there. He started the pumpkin business the year before and asked me to come work at the pumpkin patch for his second season. It's been very interesting to watch the business develop and find a niche in a rather competitive business in metro Seattle.

Less fun has been watching the area around the pumpkin patch change from agriculture to commercial uses and be swallowed up by the encroaching urban sprawl of Seattle. During commute times the traffic often lines up for a mile or more trying to access the interstate to head south into Seattle. Especially during planting and harvest, local farmers moving equipment and products have to deal with angry commuters.

Here are a few observations from my final season at the pumpkin patch.

Dust clouds reminiscent of the "dirty thirties" while crossing central Washington

This time of year, in the central part of Washington state as we made our way to western Washington, we would see signs of serious wind erosion. By late September large fields on dryland farms between Ritzville and Quincy along I-90 are broken up and many acres already seeded with winter wheat that is sprouting. It's not uncommon to see large 'dust devils' (funnel shaped swirling dirt) carrying dust several hundred feet high up into the air and moving the dirt from one field to another.

This year, heading west from Ritzville, we encountered a serious dust cloud, the first we'd ever come across. The dust got so thick and intense that drivers on the interstate found it impossible to see in the dust and many began to pull off to the shoulder-making both moving and stationary vehicles part of the impenetrable dust cloud. It was actually scary with moving and stopped traffic and extremely limited visibility.

I spoke with Andrew McGuire, Director of the Grant County Extension Services to learn why the dust clouds occur in the area. He said, "This area gets about eight inches of rainfall per year (Blaine County averages 13 inches). The climate in central Washington is described as 'Mediterranean,' which means most of the rain comes in the winter. That's the worst time for agriculture as the spring planting and fall tillage leaves a layer of dust that is susceptible to wind." He added researchers studying silt layers in local lakes concluded that blowing dust predated modern agriculture and this fall's dust clouds were especially bad following over 100 days of no rain during the past summer.

Black Crow Pumpkins and Corn Maze has moved beyond a start-up business

There are more than 70 internet listings for u-pick pumpkin patches and corn mazes in the metro area of Seattle. These facilities range from small plots with a few pumpkins to sell to large acreages with huge pumpkin patches, multiple corn mazes and all sorts of additional attractions to draw customers to a business that only lasts for about one month in the fall.

Biringer's Black Crow Pumpkins... is what might be described as a 'boutique agritourism' attraction, with minimal enticements beyond the pumpkin patch, a small produce stand and a 'non-scary' corn maze (non-scary maze means no surprises in the corn maze). Many customers at the Black Crow say, "We come here to get pumpkins and do a corn maze without all the hype and circus atmosphere. We like the calm."

Biringer's special niche is its status as "pet-friendly." The owners of the patch are devoted dog owners and recognized that a lot of people would like to bring dogs to a pumpkin patch. Gary explained, "Some of these big patches have petting zoos and even have flying duck races. Can you imagine what would happen if someone took a retriever into a duck race? It would be chaos." The only requirement to have your dog in the Biringer's patch or maze is to "keep the animal on a six foot or less leash and 'scoop the poop.'" Interestingly, there are very few problems with the pets.

An internet search shows that Biringer's patch is the only pumpkin patch in the metro area with no restrictions on dogs (someone showed up this year with a pet pig on a leash. Who knows what the next stage of "pet-friendly" might look like). On weekends, especially, many folks from Seattle bring their dogs to the patch. A Saturday "pet costume contest" also is a big draw and several metro clubs of certain breeds of dogs will hold "play dates" at the pumpkin patch. Word has gotten around in the five years I've been at the patch that dogs are welcome (at the cashier stand we give the kiddies a Halloween treat as well as the dogs). Being able to bring a dog is a big draw to city dwellers.

The other "hook" that the Biringers have created is the "whatever you can stack in a wheelbarrow and one person, with no help, can push up to the cashier." Pumpkins are sold by size. The biggest pumpkin costs $25 and the smallest is $3. Customers push wheelbarrows out to the field so they don't have to carry the pumpkins (the pumpkins are already cut from the vines so that hassle is also eliminated). Part of the appeal of a wheelbarrow load is that if a customer wants two or three big carvers, they're already at the $65 wheelbarrow load.

Over the years we've seen certain families or groups of friends come to the patch and announce right away they are "going for a wheelbarrow load." For some customers it's a way to split a load of pumpkins and get a price break. For others it's pretty obvious it's a bragging rights thing with lots of photos taken to show the deal they made back at the office.

Readers may be wondering, "How much revenue do you get from pumpkins?" I don't really see the books but as the main cashier I have seen, on sunny, pleasant weekend day two weeks or less before Halloween, $10,000 worth of pumpkins go through the checkout stand. There is also a charge for the corn maze and, just this year, the Biringers added a mini-donut making operation-not only a treat for customers but a way to keep them at the patch for a longer time.

Obviously the income is not all profit. For example seed for the pumpkins, gourds and squash, runs more than $2,000 each year. But after five years the patch is doing some very good business. Unfortunately, sales are directly related to weather and if a prime selling weekend has rain, lots of folks will opt for a trip to Safeway to get their pumpkin. The pumpkin business is like most agricultural enterprises, very weather dependent.

There's also a sales pattern, slow during the 10 or so days when the patch first opens, major sales around the middle two weekends of October, and then a slow decline as Halloween approaches. Most patches actually close early on Halloween day figuring if people haven't gotten a pumpkin by then, good chance they won't be getting one. The day or two before Halloween most customers are on a last minute mission to get one or two pumpkins for a kid's school project, to decorate for a last minute party or to replace a jack-o-lantern that has already 'gone south.'

Looking back at my time at the pumpkin patch

It's been an interesting five years. I've met a lot of really nice people who come to the patch. This year, for the first time, a dog bit me at the check out line. I think the dog was so distracted with all the other dogs and commotion that when I reached down to pick up his owner's pumpkin the dog chomped my hand.

During the Black Crow Halloween Doggie Costume Contest this couple, and their two dogs, were cast to compete in the "Peeps and Pets" category-competition in which both owners and pets are in costume. These two owners came as ghosts and their two dogs were Ghostbusters. Unfortunately, they got caught in a traffic jam and missed the competition.

Probably the most unusual sale I made over the years was two wheelbarrow loads of pumpkins to a couple that were commercial fishermen in Alaska. They had driven their boat to Seattle for repairs and were on their way home. The lady said, "Kids in the village where we live never get to have pumpkins for Halloween. We will load the pumpkins on the boat and deliver them in time for the villagers to carve them for Halloween."

What saddens me most is the change in the area where the pumpkin patch is located. Until this year the area across the state highway was a fifteen acre field of wild blackberry brambles, then a grain field and now, it is being developed into a truck stop. Traffic consultants on the project estimate that 12,000 vehicles pass the site each day and forecast that 3,000+ of those vehicles can be expected to stop at the truck stop per day. I shudder to think of the change that will bring to people wanting to access the pumpkin patch from a two lane highway or the present farmers moving equipment back and forth. I will not miss that, but I will miss the fun of the runup to Halloween. It's been a great five years, but time to move on.