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- Three Ohio Growers Share their Experiences with Mazes
When it comes to mazes, under-promise and over-deliver. That was the message from Andy Hill from Penton’s Farm Market in Amherst, Ohio, one of three growers who spoke about their experiences with mazes at the North American Farmers Direct Market Association conference in Cincinnati, Ohio.
Hill and his wife Kirsten have operated a maze for the past 12 years. They cater to elementary and preschool youngsters at the market, located west of Cleveland. Hill said he plans a seven-acre adventure maze and a one-acre maze for younger kids this year.
“We try to focus to that age category,” Hill said about three to seven year olds. They also do a haunted maze for older kids. “We also do some mazes with tractor trailers filled up with bales of hay,” he said.
Their following of customers was built primarily through word of mouth, Hill said. “Our midnight maze is absolutely the most popular of everything we do,” Kirsten told the standing room only crowd of marketers. The Hills charge $4 per person on weekends and $3 per youngster for elementary and preschool groups.
To build his mazes Hill plants sudan grass in early July. He prefers sudan grass, over corn, because it’s still green in October, a little bit softer plant and easier to broadcast with no plowing needed. “We can knock it down real easy,” said Hill.
The downside to using sudan grass for mazes is heavy winds that hit his area in Ohio that can be solved by fertilizing a little lighter and planting a little later. In the spring, Hill deals with the trash on the field by using Roundup.
When Penton’s Farm Market opened in the fall of 1987 with entertainment farming they had 50 visitors that October. Last year in October 10,000 people visited their market for their mazes, market and other fall entertainment.
Hill said everything they do in fall entertainment and at the market is done to create a quality, upscale experience for their customers in this new era of selling an experience.
Rob Leeds, an Ohio State University Extension agent in Delaware, Ohio, also operates a maze at his farm in Ostrander, Ohio. “We’re as small as you’re going to get. We like to stay small,” said Leeds about his maze. Their maze and an extensive play area are suited for younger kids 13 and under.
Last year 3,000 people came through their two mazes and 5,000 the year before, he said. They charge $2 per person to go through their mazes including a straw bale maze with 1,200 bales.
Leeds said he uses sorghum sudan grass cross for their maze because it grows back a little better, compared to corn. They mow five-foot wide paths and plant between 15-19 pounds of grass seed per acre, before they fertilize.
Dave Scheidierer from Integrated Ag Service in Milford Center, Ohio assists Leeds in his maze. Scheidierer mounts GPS software on an all terrain vehicle early in the spring. This special software aligns the different lines to coordinates of the field. Leeds follows the tracks of the ATV with a lawn mower to create the maze. He mows five feet aisleways, kept a minimum of 10 feet apart. Leeds said one advantage to grass is that it can grow back if mistakes are made.
Leeds advised growers to plan ahead and be creative for a successful maze. He said a 2.5- to three-acre maze fits their market and growers should create the maze to fit their operation. “We have a lot of young families. That works better for us,” said Leeds. “Layout the pathway as soon as the grass emerges,” he told growers.
“Projectiles happen,” said Andy Lynd, from Lynd’s Fruit Farm in Johnstown in Central Ohio. Although not a serious problem, some mischievous teenagers and pre-teens have a little fun with ears of corn while visiting the Lynd’s maze at their farm east of Columbus, Ohio.
The Lynds, who charge $6 for adults, $4 for ages five and up and under five free, spent $50,00 to $60,000 on their corn maze with the majority going for labor costs. They have operated a big maze for two years and a smaller 100-feet-by-100-feet maze for more than 12 years.
As Lynd is busy managing the family’s 400-acre orchard, he relies on Hugh McPherson, a grower and maze designer from Pennsylvania. “For us it’s the only way we could do a maze. He helps with all the aspects of the maze,” Lynd said about McPherson. “He makes several designs and we select one,” he added.
“We mark out the field in a grid pattern and basically connect the dots on the pathway,” Lynd said. The paths can be cut anytime after the corn is up which is in June for them, he said. They go through the maze with a rototiller and follow this up with hoes.
Last year 17,000 people went through their maze, which is open in late August through the end of October. Lynd said their maze appeals to 10 – 16 years olds although all ages enjoy it. They charge $6 for ages 12 and over and $4 for under 12.
Their popular Flashlight Nights on Friday and Saturday nights where the maze is open until 11 p.m. appeal to a lot of different age groups especially high school students.
To promote the maze, Lynd sends updates to a mailing list of 25,000 and places an ad on a weekly basis in a newspaper in Columbus, Ohio.
Two years ago Lynd listened to a presentation on mazes on the NAFDMA conference which sparked his interest. This February he was part of a presentation to interested growers. “A lot of people are curious about them and wondering if it is something they should try,” said Lynd.
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