Cross Iron Acres, a wedding venue about 15 minutes north of Moose Jaw, holds several weekends’ worth of pumpkin u-picking/farmer’s market/family photo op events each fall, and has seen tremendous response from the community.
“When we moved here, we were asking around about, you know, where people get their pumpkins from? And everyone said, well, you either go to Lumsden or you go to a local superstore and grab one out of the bin,” explained Dustin Mayes, who co-owns Cross Iron Acres with his wife Britany Mayes.
The Mayes moved to Moose Jaw three years ago and started their wedding venue business a year later. That side of the business is booming, they were happy to say — they are almost fully booked for 2024 and are now booking into 2025.
They have 10 acres of land, which means they have plenty of extra room for gardening.
“We thought, well, we have all this extra space, why we don’t we try growing some pumpkins and see what happens? So, sort of ignorantly at first, we bought a bunch of seeds online, got some help from an irrigation company, we found out you need bees to pollinate them and worked with a local apiary to buy six hives, and we did it all by hand.
“We weren’t really sure what to expect,” Dustin laughed, “but lo and behold, that first year we grew about three or four thousand pumpkins. It was pretty wild.”
By the end of that first season, the Mayes were composting pumpkins, giving pumpkins away for animal feed, and looking for anyone else who could help make use of all the extras.
They have learned a lot since then. They grow colourful, popular variations such as Snow Balls, Porcelain Dolls, the Jack of all Trades (the classic Halloween carving variety), Rivals, Cinderella’s Carriages, and more. Despite persistent rumours, Dustin noted, all of the pumpkins are homegrown — a full family effort by the Mayes and their four young children.
(Shopping for seeds can often be hilarious, the Mayes added, because of the pages and pages of creatively named pumpkin varieties with, it seems, new versions every year.)
They charge $5 admission to the patch, and children under 5 years old are free. The pumpkins sell for between $1 and $10, depending on the weight and variety.
The first u-pick weekend was September 30. There are two more — Oct. 7 and 8, and Oct. 14 and 15. Hours are from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. both days.
“We also host our farmer’s markets in our event tent, with local and regional vendors,” Britany explained. “They sell different goods, like, a couple people sell vegetables, but most are selling craft-type items, candles, essential oils, jewelry, clothing, wooden signs, knitted goods, that kind of thing.
“We also have the Prairie Percherons who come and do horse-and-carriage rides, and we have a photo display area, so it’s also a good chance for some cute family photos.”
For more information, for directions, and photos of the wedding venue and pumpkin patch, visit them online at www.crossironacres.com.
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