Tiegen's Pumpkin Patch grows from tradition

BYRON — Picking pumpkins, making straw men and hanging up seasonal decorations have always been Gwenda Tiegen’s favorite parts of fall. Now, she is sharing that passion with visitors who return each year for pumpkins and fall decor at Tiegen’s Pumpkin Patch.

“I’ve had people coming for years, and they’ve watched my kids grow up, and we think of them as friends,” Tiegen said.

For around 25 years, Tiegen, her husband, Gregg, and their children — Gunnar, Greta and Greer — have run their pumpkin patch near Byron. With their children now grown up, Tiegen and Gregg receive help mostly from Tiegen’s brother, cousins and occasionally Greta.

The patch is open daily from sunrise to sunset from late August through October. A variety of pumpkins, gourds, mums, straw bales and decorations are available for purchase.

Unlike some other patches, there are no activities, games or mazes. This one focuses on outdoor decorations. The patch opens in May for the spring season and wraps up in early June, offering flowers, vegetables and other plants. Later in the year, holiday porch pots for winter decor are offered.

The idea to plant pumpkins initially came to Tiegen when two of her children had fall birthdays and she wanted something special for them. With Gregg’s experience as an agronomist for several years before transitioning to full-time farming in 2019 to manage around 2,200 acres and 5 acres of the land split into fenced-off areas, everything seemed to fall into place.

“It was just something for the kids in the fall that we did,” Tiegen said. “My one daughter’s birthday is Oct. 28, so for the kids’ birthdays, we’d always give pumpkins away to the kids that came.”

Over time, it became a tradition for the family to annually plant and harvest pumpkins, with all three kids helping. Before long, hundreds of the fall vegetables began to sprout, leading the Tiegens to open a small farmstand to sell the surplus. The money earned went to the children to use on family vacations.

The family only sold pumpkins until around 2019, when Tiegen had an idea to expand operations.

“My daughter was in Just For Kix dance class, and she was doing a lot of fundraising to go to Tampa, Florida,” Tiegen said. “She was selling all kinds of stuff, and I thought, ‘Gosh, I could do flowers in the spring.’”

Inspired, Tiegen drove down to Iowa to buy Mennonite-grown flowers, particularly mums, which she said last longer and are better quality. The flower side of the business soon began to bloom, especially in 2020.

Since the initial success, Tiegen continues to make the trip at least once or twice a week for around six weeks to restock mums and supplies. While some pumpkins — including blue, pink and white varieties — are grown at the pumpkin patch, many of the larger, orange ones are sourced through auctions and greenhouses in Iowa.

“The big orange ones are heavy; it’s a lot of work,” Tiegen said. “At one time, we had three separate patches, and now, we just have our one and try to do more of the decorative ones to get started and going right away.”

Chickens and pigs used to greet guests when Gunnar, Greta and Greer participated in 4-H, but the animals are gone as space at the patch remains limited, Tiegen said. These days, she relies on friends and family to haul and unload heavy pallets of pumpkins and flowers. Gregg continues to support the patch by handling the pumpkin planting, supplying corn shocks and stalks, and assisting with the annual harvest.

Tiegen said most customers in September are women coming to purchase their mums and fall porch decor, while children are popular visitors in October for their Halloween jack-o’-lanterns. To keep customers informed, Tiegen said she actively updates the patch’s Facebook page with current inventory and photos so customers know what is available before making the drive out.

Though she works primarily in sales and office settings with a business degree, Tiegen was heavily involved in art and painting in high school and college; operating and organizing the seasonal patch provides her with a welcome creative outlet outside her work life. Tiegen said the combination of creativity, community and affordability is what keeps her going.

“People tell me all the time that my prices are so good compared to town, and that the flowers and mums last longer than what they buy at the big stores,” she said. “I almost feel like I can’t quit because people say they don’t go anywhere else. For a lot of families, coming here has just become a tradition.”