Patch Attraction

Carolyn Raasch spends 44 weeks of every year planning for the eight weeks between September and the end of October. As a pumpkin farmer, she plants in spring and then waits for the rush. “You do a year’s worth of business in eight weeks,” says Raasch, who has been operating Carolyn’s Country Cousins Pumpkin Patch at 17607 Northeast 52nd Street in Liberty since 1991 with her husband, Buddy, and their kids.
The 60-acre patch opened for the season on September 15. Besides the appeal of produce straight off the vine, the business boasts a growing number of family activities, including an animal barn, a trike path and an antique pedal-tractor carousel. “We have a steam locomotive — a C.P. Huntington,” Raasch says. “It will hold up to 70 passengers. And on the weekend, we have Uncle Lester’s pig races. Uncle Lester comes out and does three heats of four pigs each. It’s a big show, and we do it every hour.” General admission costs $8. Call 816-781-9196.

Carolyn’s Country Cousins Pumpkin Patch

Sept. 15-Oct. 31, 10 a.m.-7 p.m., 2007