HARPERSVILLE, Ala. (WIAT) – Saturday was the first day of fall, and one local farm is preparing for thousands of guests this autumn.

Old Baker Farm has been in business for over 100 years. Leah Harry, who runs events and operations for the farm, said when visitors come by, they get a unique experience.

Harry said this year there is a hayride to the pumpkin patch, a hay mountain, a slide, a train and a corn maze. The farm also offers a petting zoo with animals native to the state.

Old Baker Farm will be open for the fall season from Saturday, September 30 to October 31.

Harry said during that time, five to ten thousand visitors come to the farm, which causes a major economic boost to the farm and the Harpersville community, continuing the growth of the town.

“We’re still a small-town feel, but we still have the opportunity to have others come out and have some fun here in this small little place,” Harry said.

Last year, many farmers dealt with a pumpkin shortage caused by poor weather and viruses; Old Baker Farm hopes that they don’t have to deal with that issue again this year.

So far, Harry said their pumpkins have grown well this year.

“We’ve had a drier season than normal,” Harry said. “We are blessed to be able to have irrigation opportunities here because we live close to a creek, so that gives us the opportunity to water.” 

She said even though their pumpkins have grown well, they still must continue to properly maintain them to protect them. Harry said it is not a guarantee that they will survive because too much rain can still destroy pumpkins, and animals can steal pumpkins to eat.

“Coyotes, deer, you name it, they’re going to try to take it off, so those are things that we deal with, but we just try to work through it,” she said.

Even though they have enough pumpkins right now, Harry said she anticipates they will run out because of the foot traffic of people who will visit the farm during the fall.

“Probably the second or third weekend, we will have to pull in some pumpkins from different vendors,” Harry said. “It’s very difficult; the economy does drive a lot of what people do and so we try to make sure we just say we have historically this many people this weekend, we’re going to make sure we have that many pumpkins.”

For more information about Old Baker Farm, click here.