Posts Tagged ‘Corn Maze’

Pumpkin Marketing a 500 level course, Competitive Advantage, #Agritourism, #buylocal, eatlocal

Saturday, October 24th, 2009
My what sharp teeth you have?!

My what sharp teeth you have?!

Let me at em'

Let me at em'

Well I ain’t braggin but hey, sometimes even a blind nut finds a squirl….. or somethang like that? You C right up the street from us not even five minutes away lives this big ole’ metal dinasaur, and he ain’t purple! I have driven by it for a couple of years and this year I just stopped in to see if he might be interested in coming over to play?

Well his owner Mike West of Wild West Entertainment is just about as nice of guy as you could meet and he said “sure we can come over”. We worked out a dinasaur dinner budget (he’s gotta eat ya know), and well two weeks now are history, and the crowds just love to come to Maize Valley to see Megasaurus do it’s version of “Making Pumpkin Pie” Maize Valley Style. We are reloading for one more show on October 24th to highlight Megasaurus’s unique dinning style of cars and pumpkins. Now This is what I call Eating Local!

This fall has been a weather diasaster for us. We have had rain EVERY weekend since we opened the corn maze and fall harvest activities. But ya know what, our sales are down but not like they should be with the terrible weather we have encountered. We have lost all our Friday nights, and most all our haunted nights due to either direct rain or mud that made things unsafe. We upped the anti this year, the new maze games outlined in previous posts I think are paying off . The maze is staying in pretty good shape considering the weather, crowds and poor condition of the corn to start with.

I addition even though the haunt has not opened (one night so far) it allowed me to leverage marketing dollars from a local sponser excited about working with us and I was able to purchase several thousand dollars in radio that has in turn leveraged some other unique marketing ideas.

With this promotional push I had the confidence to go ahead and book Megasaurus which is a national quality act seen at Monster Truck shows all over North America (A similar machine sold for over $500,000 recently). And the story goes on with an agreement for next season as well and possible additional sponsors due the momentum and scope of our efforts to date and plans for next year. “And the beat goes on…..and the beat goes on”!

It’s all fun and games till somebody pokes an eye out or something like that I think Mom used to say… But hey when trying to carve our your place in the pumpkin selling world….sometimes it’s better to be lucky (have a megasaurus live up the street) than good!

Rounding Third and headed for the home stretch:#farm,#agritourism,

Tuesday, September 15th, 2009
What's up Doc?

What's up Doc?

On the way to being Raspberry Wine!

On the way to being Raspberry Wine!

Cabbage Patch

Cabbage Patch

Pa, Pa, Pa....Peppers!

Pa, Pa, Pa....Peppers!

Maters' still going strong!

Maters' still going strong!

Vineyard view

Vineyard view

LaCrescent Vineyard

LaCrescent Vineyard

It has been a very interesting season. Weird weather to say the least. Cool, cloudy & dryish early, wet later, some heat now in Sept.? Yea, whatever we just roll with it and make the best of it and are happy to wake to see another day.

The Ohio Wine and More formal blog has been difficult to keep up as of late. My desktop crashed and was either sick or in the shop for almost three weeks. Then we are dealing with some family health issues as we head into harvest as well so my eye has been off this ball.

Been doing a lot more “Micro-blogging” via face book w/fan pages and such. Really trying to redefine my local marketing efforts etc.

I am also running for school board this fall, an election run during harvest? What was I thinking!!

Today my wife and I are taking a motorcycly ride on my V Strom headed down towards Harrison County Ohio. Cool gravel roads down there, most of them end in the word “Hollow” too! One of those “smell the roses” days if ya get my drift?!

Here are a few crop updates and general farm stuff from grapes to corn mazes.

Corn Maze Update and how we do it too.

Thursday, July 23rd, 2009
First pic of maze one week after cutting

First pic of maze one week after cutting

View of Corn Maze Paths after Roto-tilling

View of Corn Maze Paths after Roto-tilling

View of Corn Maze Paths before Roto-tilling

View of Corn Maze Paths before Roto-tilling

In an ongoing attempt to let people know what and how we do things at Maize Valley I keep letting out a little bit of info here and there about how it is we keep making Great Wine…FUN!

You can do corn maze a bunch of different ways but what I am showing is just how we roll. This year will be our tenth corn maze and the system we use works for us, it may not for you but such is the case in many things agritourism.

Like making wine you cannot make just what you like, such is also the case in a corn maze. People come out to buy some of our fresh produce, maybe drink some award winning wine, but in the fall especially to have fun. The maze helps folks do that. So we cannot create something that just makes people nuts but rather is an enjoyable experience while on the farm.

So part of that is first a foremost safety. That is why I roto-till the paths so it reduces the chance anyone can fall and if they do so they don’t land on something that could injure them. I know it will happen but I try my best to see that it doesn’t. We try and get the paths like road before we open so a stroller or power chair can go through weather permitting.

So check out how we roto-till our corn maze paths and see some of what goes into your admission price too. And remember if you do come STAY ON THE PATHS OR WE WILL ASK YOU TO LEAVE, for the pleasure of all guests that come after you.

At Maize Valley, We Make Great Wine…FUN!!

Corn Maze Update, “It’s in the Field”!

Thursday, July 16th, 2009
Carving the "Circle MV"
Fresh Cut Pathway

Fresh Cut Pathway

Corn Maze Paths just after cutting

Corn Maze Paths just after cutting

Getting started cutting the corn maze

Getting started cutting the corn maze

This is our Tenth Anniversary Corn Maze, wow has it been that long??!! Well we are getting started and combining the maze with our new Civil War Re-enactment set to go on August 15th and 16th. Corn looks kinda short we will see, just not enough sun and heat so far. If we don’t make Aug. it will be Labor Day Weekend.

I have been getting several inquiries as to how we do our mazes and why we do things certain ways. Keep in mind this agritourism thing is a process of evolution. Not all things work at all locations. You can learn by seeing what others do and then trying certain aspects on your own place. But most of all keep asking questions. I don’t think “outside the box”, I crawl up on top of it, pick it up, & turn it over. I look at agritourism from all sides now!

We hire Rob Stoffer with Precision Mazes to handle the cut and Hugh McPherson of Maize Quest for the design and activity content. We have done it all in-house over the years but we just have too much going on now and have created such an expectation of excellence with our guests that it is now time to rely on the professionals. My brain just ain’t big enough to get it all done anymore, I don’t know if it ever was, I think I was just lucky. We have done NASCAR/NAPA, Bridgestone/Bigfoot, Formula One Racing and more. It has been a fun ride and a great way to make money while bringing such fun to families!

Keep in touch as we install the games, trivia, and all the other stuff that makes a Maize Valley an Adventure, not just a walk in a corn field. Check out the links under “Agritourism” to learn more about the great partners we have!

Corn Maze & Pumpkin Patch 8 Days after planting @ Maize Valley

Saturday, June 6th, 2009
Let's dig a little deeper

Let's dig a little deeper

Pumpkin sprout 8 Days after planting

Pumpkin sprout 8 Days after planting

Agri-Tourism is a big part of what we do at Maize Valley. The new word on the street, er maybe for us the path, is “Imersion Tourism”. We just know it feels right to help people work toward “Hakuna Matata” or no worries and a relaxing fun day in the country can be just the ticket for that.

But we ARE farmers, really we do grow a ton of stuff yet from Watermelons to Wine we do a lot. But we have to sell it too, otherwise we will not be around to do it again as my wife’s family has done for the last 150 odd years here. So a great deal of my blog deals with what a modern direct market producers deals with and what it takes to both grow the food you need to eat to live, but also provide a quality of life aspect that makes life worth living.

Here are some video updates of where our corn maze and U-pick pumpkin patch is 8 days after planting, hope you enjoy.

Corn Maze/Agri-Tourism & Ohio Civil War History Come together @ Maize Valley

Tuesday, May 26th, 2009
Kay making first grid pass for 2009 Corn Maze

Kay making first grid pass for 2009 Corn Maze

Our 2009 Corn Maze Adventure is off and running!! This year’s theme is the Civil War. We are hosting a re-enactment here at Maize Valley on August 15th and 16th. We are even bringing out a limited edition wine for that weekend with a special lable recognizing the two battles that were fought in Ohio and the respective commanders. We plan on having the maze open by that weekend providing the weather cooperates.

I have placed a few videos at the bottom of this post to quickly walk you through how we have gotten started to date. I hope to put together a more edited version for teachers if I can find the time. We get so many questions as to how do you create those corn mazes? I hope this helps answer a few questions our guests might have. We use a GPS guided cutting system as well, more on that later.

We have partnered with Maze Quest this year for a new interactive game inside the maze as well. More details will be coming soon keep an eye on the website or suscribe to our e-mail list for more info.

Wagon rides, pumpkins and so much more make Maize Valley THE Place to Be!! And just one more way we Make Great Wine…FUN!!

“Going Green”, Agri-Tourism, Wagon rides, Corn Mazes and so much more.

Friday, May 22nd, 2009
Stairway to Corn Maze Heaven

Stairway to Corn Maze Heaven

Fresh Paint makes everything look good!

Fresh Paint makes everything look good!

At Maize Valley We Make Great Wine…FUN!!! At least we try! We are a muscular destination for food, fun and friends. Part of that involves our harvest season activities. This year we celebrate our 10th annual corn maze adventure. The preparation for that starts now.

This year we have moved our stair steps back into the maze itself and gave them a fresh coat of paint too. Another new addition this year is we have hired the folks over at Maze Quest to help us upgrade our corn maze experience with new games, activities and a whole new interactive text message game too! Stay tuned for more updates. Here are a few videos below for you to see how to “Go Green”

Wagon Rides, Pumpkins and so much more Make Maize Valley THE Place To BE!!! Where else can you sip a class of award winning wine, watch a pig race, see a pumpkin fly and who knows what else??!!

Come on out a build some memories to last a lifetime and see how at Maize Valley, We Make Great Wine…FUN!!!

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