Potters Way

'Twas the Week Before Opening

2011-11-14T14:08:00.000-08:00

‘Twas the week before opening, and all ‘round the farm,

We’re decorating everything with Christmas charm.

The barn was cleared out and set up with care,

In hopes that our Christmas trees soon would be there.

The nativity is nestled all snug in its place,

With angels and shepherds proclaiming God’s grace.

The weatherman is predicting a weekend cold snap,

And we’ve had no time for a long winter’s nap!

We’ve been trimming our trees with lights galore,

We are the place to shop for your Christmas décor!

And what to your wondering eyes should appear,

But fresh greens and garlands to bring your home cheer!

We’ll have door prizes to win and wassail to sip,

All this stuff is for free, but we do accept tips!

If its specials you want, then come check them out,

While you munch on some snacks and wander about.

We here end this poem, but we hope you’ll agree,

Our Christmas Open House is something to see.

So on Friday the 25^th, we’ll be merry and bright,

To wish you a Christmas season filled with delight!

And the Winners Are...

2011-10-25T05:15:00.000-07:00

Here are the winners from the contests held at Potters Way this fall:

Ladies' Night fall display: Hannah Johnson

Pumpkin Weight in Scarecrow Row:
1st 2 weeks: Erica Thorpe with a guess of 637; actual weight was 635 - $25 in Oakes bucks
2nd 2 weeks: Kathy Sitzler with a guess of 768; actual weight was 771 - $25 in Oakes bucks

Scarecrow Row Contest Winners:
1st place: "Pirate" by Grant Wagner from Dakota Workers - $150 to club
2nd place: "Purple with Striped Socks" by Brylee Haberman from Fullerton Achievers - $100 to club

We'd like to thank everyone who came out to visit us this fall season at Potters Way. The weather was wonderful and we hope you enjoyed your time with us.

We will be re-opening the shop for our Christmas Open House on Friday, November 25th at 10:00 am. Come and see us for fresh greens, a fresh Christmas tree and all your decorating needs!

Road Construction

2011-10-04T10:15:00.000-07:00

After getting a few calls from folks trying to get to our farm by coming down County Rd. 3 from Hwy 281, here's some new information:

- Although you'll see a "Road Closed" sign, the road is passable according to people who drive it every day. We would recommend driving a higher clearance vehicle like a pick-up, because it's not always completely leveled out and it's a little rough.

We plan to call the county today and see what we can do for signage because it's pretty misleading and there aren't any detour signs to follow.

We sincerely apologize for the hassle for those of you who attempted to get here coming that way. If you're concerned about driving through the low maintenance road, the best bet is to come over on Interstate 94 and down Hwy 1 from Jamestown, and east on Hwy 11 and over on the Guelph highway from Ellendale.

We so appreciate our visitors from afar and wish the road work would have been completed in time! Hopefully, this information helps! See you all soon!

Some of our Visitors...

2011-10-04T10:11:00.000-07:00

We LOVE getting pictures sent to us of the little ones having a great time at the pumpkin patch! Here are some of the great ones we've received so far! How great are the little costumes?

Adorable little scarecrow...if she were out in Scarecrow Row, she would get ALL the votes!

CUTE little pumpkin outfits!

Almost couldn't get these two busy guys to sit still long enough!

The Sigafoos family from Ellendale

Choosing just the right one!

Checking out the animals...

Playing in the straw

As you can see, there's so much for families to do at Potters Way! It's a great way to enjoy the country and have fun with your family and friends! Don't miss out!

Our Farm

2011-10-04T10:06:00.000-07:00

Here are some shots of the exhibits in Scarecrow Row. We've had an awesome couple of weekends, so you better stop on out before we're all finished with the season! We have 2 more weekends to go!

We had a great growing season so there is a lot of specialty pumpkins and gourds for sale! Here are a few pics from the barn and the shop with our fun merchandise!

Scarecrow Row Sneak Peek!

2011-09-23T08:52:00.000-07:00

Here are some pics of the kids getting their scarecrow displays all ready to go! It's a really neat attraction that you won't want to miss!

Ladies Night!

2011-09-23T08:49:00.000-07:00

We held our second annual Ladies Night last evening and we had a great turnout! We've added a few pictures of the ladies who came out and took advantage of the specials and enjoyed the fabulous cheesecake!

We'll post the winner of our outdoor display soon!

What You Can Expect

2011-09-05T14:05:00.001-07:00

There are some important things we want you to know about the upcoming season at Potters Way.

Since our corn maze was destroyed in the storm on July 10th, we are featuring a new attraction this year called "Scarecrow Row". The local 4-H kids are creating scarecrows and we will have them on display for viewing, voting and of course, great photo opportunities!
On Thursday, September 22nd from 7:00 - 9:00 pm, we are having a Ladies Night. All ladies are welcome and you'll get the first pick of produce for fall decorating along with the unique merchandise in our shop. We'll have dessert and coffee, along with some fun specials to take advantage of!
Finally, remember, our opening day is September 23rd and we are open only 4 weekends until October 16th!

Don't miss out! We hope to see you there!

Old Habits Die Hard

2011-09-05T14:05:00.000-07:00

Here we are about to start another season at Potters Way and we are continuously reminded that we are not in control.

Webster's definition of control is "to exercise restraining or directing influence over". We have to admit it...we are control freaks.

You'd think after a few seasons of both ups and downs, we'd realize that God is totally in control and we'd stop trying so hard to "exercise directing influence". The truth is, old habits die hard and we're still learning.

This year, we were hit with several surprises; some good and some not so good. On July 10th, a major storm blew through our little town of Oakes and more than 1,400 trees were uprooted in town, along with other property damage and major crop damage. Our corn maze was destroyed in this storm. Initially, we weren't sure if our plants would produce anything either, so there was some time when we thought we wouldn't have anything for the 2011 season.

But as certain as ever, God came through. Here are a few pictures of some of the great-looking produce that we'll have for sale this fall.

A good surprise this year is that Tom and Jean are grandparents again. Originally, Jeremiah and Becky were expecting this little person on September 15th, the day before we were scheduled to open for the 2011 Potters Way season. We were all a little apprehensive about the due date! Well, again, God's timing is always perfect and little Carter James Undem arrived 3 weeks early on August 24th.

Tom and Jean showing Carter to big brother, Andrew.

Carter James Undem

With the storm pushing our opening back and the baby coming early, the stress of the timing is significantly lower! It never ceases to amaze us how God works in our lives and the plan He has for us is ALWAYS better than what we could plan for ourselves.

Check back for more information on what you can expect this year, including information about Ladies Night. Please make it part of your fall plans to come and visit us and see just how good God really is! See you soon!

A Blessed New Year to You All!

2011-01-12T10:20:00.000-08:00

We wanted to take a moment to, once again, thank all our loyal customers who came to visit us at Potters Way. We are always reminded of the purpose for our existence when we see so many people that come to see us.

As always, we also have to thank our family and friends who help prepare and run the place while we are open. It can be a tremendous amount of work and we couldn't without you all.

Towards the end of 2010, our family sustained a major loss with the passing of both our Grandma Evelyn Rodine and Grandma Dorothy Seefeldt. Grandma Rodine helped us out in our first year by being our greeter. She greeted each and every visitor with a greeting that she wrote: "Welcome to Potters Way. Come in, look around, and spend the day." She loved being on the farm and fit right in at Potters Way. She was proud to be a part of the business and we were honored to have her.

Grandma Seefeldt played a number of roles at Potters Way. For those of you who enjoyed our Sunday special of homemade pumpkin pie, you tasted what a great cook she was. She also made lefse with Cousin Sadie during our first Christmas season. She even volunteered to wash windows when we were getting ready for opening each year. She was always there for us, jumping at the chance to be helpful.

The passing of them both so close together has been difficult for our family. They taught us all so much, but especially to treasure and hold tight to family. We will greatly miss them both.

Grandma Dorothy and Grandpa Howard

Grandma Evelyn holding Maclain

Grandma Dorothy and Sadie making lefse

We wish you all a blessed and prosperous new year.

Happy Thanksgiving....Bring on Christmas!

2010-11-26T05:39:00.000-08:00

From our home to yours, we hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving yesterday and were able to travel safely to spend time with your families and friends! At Potters Way, we're already thinking Christmas while we're eating our turkey dinner because our Christmas Open House starts the next day!

And guess what?!? That's TODAY! We open today for our Christmas season at 10:00! We are only open for 2 weekends during Christmas because our shop is really all about helping you prepare for decorating for the holidays.

Our barn is all set up with our fresh Christmas trees, garland and wreaths. The shop is all decked out with our take on natural Christmas decor. We invite you to come out and see us!

For our Open House weekend, we are giving away one of our fresh wreaths and a snowman decoration for door prizes so that's an incentive to come and see us, too!

Here are our hours for our season:

November 26 - 28th and December 3 - 5

Friday: 10 - 6 pm

Saturday: 10 - 6 pm

Sunday: 1 - 6 pm

We wish you and yours a blessed Christmas season. We encourage you to slow down, take time to cherish your loved ones and always remember,

Jesus is the Reason for the Season! God bless!

From one blog to another...

2010-10-29T13:12:00.000-07:00

Renae Sell-Lindgren shared a blog post she wrote about her family's experience at Potters Way! It was so awesome to see that made it on someone else's blog and with her permission, we're sharing the link with you! We hope you'll come and check us out next year so your family can carve the awesome memories that only a pumpkin patch can!

http://livelovelaughwithlindgrens.blogspot.com/2010/10/maze-ing-time.html

Stealing from Renae as she so eloquently stated in her blog, "Our love bucket runneth over, too." :-)

LaMoure Boy Scouts

2010-10-29T13:07:00.000-07:00

We had the pleasure of enjoying a really fun group of boy scouts and some of their moms from LaMoure. Boy were these moms prepared! They took all sorts of pictures and thank you to Leah for passing some along!

Beautiful shot of the fall produce...

Could this picture BE any cooler?

A cool close-up of one of friendly animals

He'd cost a pretty penny at $0.29 per pound!

A perfect pumpkin for Charlie!

Nicholas found one!

Steven and Taylor finding their way

Nice group shot

Hmmm...looks like they could use some help!

We really enjoyed our time with you all and we hope you'll come and visit us again soon!

What a busy season!

2010-10-29T12:39:00.000-07:00

Whew! So, here we are...it's the end of October and we're just getting around to updating our blog with a wrap-up of our fall season.

God blessed the nearly perfect fall weather and boy, did that make a difference for the turn-out of people we saw at Potters Way this year! At the end of our 4 weekends, along with lots of groups during the weeks in between, we had less than 30 pumpkins left on the whole farm! Isn't that incredible??

We did get some fun photos from some of our visitors, so we'll create separate posts for them to share their photos or stories. We really do encourage folks to email us with photos to post. We love to share your memories and no one captures them better than you! If you see this post and have some pictures you'd like to share, it's not too late to send them on! We'd love to share them!

We can't thank you all enough for the fantastic fall and as always, we'd be nowhere without the help and support of our family and friends who come to help us. It's an incredible amount of work but being able to share it with all of you makes it so much more worthwhile.

We'll be opening for our Christmas Open House on Friday, November 26th at 10:00 am.

We'll post more details as the event gets closer.

We hope to see you son!

More Fall Fall!

2010-10-02T05:35:00.000-07:00

This past weekend was an absolute blast and we wanted to share a few pics and our corn maze guess winner!

Congratulations to NEIL WALTON of Englevale with his very close guess of 480!

The total weight of the pumpkins this past weekend was 475!

Come on out and guess this weekend! Again, it's different, so don't guess 475. :-)

The Gebhardt's and their family came out to visit and took a few great pics of their boys having fun!

Thanks for sharing!

The Erlandson women posed for a fantastic photo!

Nick and Jacey Friedt, with their daughters, Isabelle and Aliyah.

Tom really does help pick the best ones!

Our own little pumpkin, Andrew, always has fun at the farm!

Isabelle and Aliyah are loving up their pumpkins!

The weather has been PERFECT for picking pumpkins and going through the corn maze. If you haven't already, it's time to come out and visit! There are only 2 weekends left! Hope to see you soon!

Fall Fun!

2010-09-23T13:31:00.000-07:00

Thank you to all our visitors this past weekend! We had BEAUTIFUL fall weather and the chill in the air puts everyone in the mood for pumpkins!

This year, our corn maze contains a guessing game in the courtyard. You register your guess for how many pounds of pumpkins are in the center and each weekend the closest guesser will win $25 in Oakes bucks. So without futher ado, from our opening weekend, the winner is....

Max Muggli! The total weight of the pumpkins was

415 pounds and Max guessed 423!

Congratulations, Max!

So, come on out and register your guess! (We'll be changing the amount each weekend, so don't plan on guessing 423! :-)

With all the rain we're getting today, we highly suggest you bring your rain boots or some shoes that won't be ruined if you pick up some mud! The corn maze is likely to be a little slick!

We hope to see you soon!

Tell me again...Why Do We Do This??

2010-09-16T10:53:00.000-07:00

As our gravel roads are drying out from the rain we received yesterday, it seems only fitting to write a blog devoted to the topic of "Why do we this anyway?"

For each part of the planning for this season, something has seemed to go wrong. Now, we're not complaining....we're just continuously reminded that God is certainly in control. So, without further ado, here's our top ten list of reasons why we operate a pumpkin patch!

10. We LOVE the fall and we LOVE kids. We couldn't come up with a better way to join the two.
9. Our community needs one...who else is going to do it?
8. Being a life-long farming family brings us closer to God and we want to share that with others.
7. We get to build our own memories with our family and friends because it takes many hands to make this thing work!
6. Tom Rodine knows how to grow corn. Why not make a maze of it?
5. Jean Rodine knows how to decorate and arrange flowers. Why not use that talent to fill a shop?
4. We love living in Oakes and we want to be part of making a great place to live and raise children.
3. Grandparents are always looking for ways to spoil their grandkids. Take a trip to the farm...it will continue to make you cooler than mom and dad.
2. We're farm folk - we like hard work. :-)

And the number 1 reason we operate a pumpkin patch is...

The weather, the growing conditions, and the circumstances around planning for this thing may change from minute to minute, but one thing stays the same....

EVERYONE HAS FUN AT THE PUMPKIN PATCH!

Come on out this weekend and see us...we'll do everything we can to make it a great visit!

It's almost pumpkin time!

2010-08-11T13:21:00.001-07:00

With it being 90 degrees outside, it's hard to imagine that it's almost pumpkin time again! We open our fall season this year on September 17th and as always, we start to kick our planning into high gear as we approach that time.

We are very excited about our Game Show themed corn maze this year, and for those of you who enjoy a challenge, it's a tough one!

We will soon be posting what you can expect for our opening weekend activities, (and you better believe there will be some FUN things to do) so keep checking the blog as we will be posting much more frequently!

Pray for great fall weather and we'll see you soon!

Thank You and Happy New Year!

2010-01-05T10:49:00.001-08:00

We just wanted to take a moment to wrap up 2009 as 2010 is already here!

We finished our Christmas season after 2 weekends and

we're excited to announce the winners of our Open House giveaways!

Judy Gemar - wreath

Stacie Dawson - custom centerpiece

Congratulations, Ladies!

We are so grateful for all our loyal customers who came to visit us in both the fall and Christmas seasons this year. We are looking forward to 2010 and we hope you'll visit us again! May God bless you all in this new year!

Deck Your Halls and Everything Else in Your Home!

2009-11-25T12:36:00.000-08:00

It's officially Christmastime at Potters Way! We want to welcome you out to our shop this weekend as we open for the Christmas season! Remember, we're only open 2 weekends this year, so you better put us at the top of your list!

We can help you deck out your mantle with garland and more...

and give you ideas for your tree or the bench by your door!

Whatever your holiday decorating needs, we are here to help! Don't forget about our custom centerpieces you can order for special occasions!

Come and shop the barn for fresh wreaths, trees, garland, cut greens and treetops.

We wish you a safe and happy Thanksgiving Day with family

and we hope to see you this weekend!

Christmas Open House!

2009-11-19T14:09:00.001-08:00

What: Christmas Open House

Where: Potters Way

When: Friday, November 27th from 10:00 am - 6:00 pm!

Who: You and all your family and friends!

Why: Let us count the reasons...

Hot cider and cookies

Great selection of Christmas decor and ideas to make your home festive

Keep on checking the blog as we get our Christmas displays set! We look forward to seeing you soon!

Goodbye to Fall...

2009-11-19T13:47:00.000-08:00

While the weather feels more like fall now than it did while we were open, we would be remiss if we didn't officially say goodbye to fall and thank all of you who came out to enjoy our farm for our fall activities!

We did receive some pictures from a couple of families and we love sharing family pictures so here they are! Little Isaiah Wertz is as cute as can be with his bucket of apples and a bale of straw! See parents? You don't need expensive toys to keep kids occupied!

The Townsend's from Warner, SD also made the trek up to Oakes again this year and had GREAT pictures to share! They took advantage of every single photo opportunity we had!

We again want to thank all our family and friends that helped us make Potters Way what it is...a fun-filled place to enjoy spending the day with your family! God bless and we'll see you at Christmas!

Updates for this weekend...

2009-10-17T08:34:00.001-07:00

Due to the effect the weather has had on our corn maze, we have made the decision to close it for the season. BUT...

We still have LOTS of pumpkins to choose from for carving and other great fall produce for decorating! It sounds like the sun might shine this weekend, so it will be fun!

We will be serving the following for food on Saturday:

BBQ's, nachos with cheese, apples with homemade caramel sauce, and bars...

We'll have hot cocoa, hot cider and coffee to warm you up!

Don't forget to come and have the Sunday pie special which is pumpkin pie and coffee for $1.99!

Top Ten Reasons to Visit Potters Way for the Last Weekend of the Season...

2009-10-15T08:22:00.000-07:00

Well, you'd never guess this is a picture of a pumpkin farm, now would you? We can hardly believe it ourselves! Again, such a great reminder that we are not in control, so when life hands you lemons, you make lemonade!

Or in our case, you serve hot cocoa and hot cider! (Which we'll be serving this weekend and is the #10 reason to visit.)

Our barn may not be heated, but the produce inside is still beautiful and it's dry! (#9) Just wear an extra layer or 2, and it will still be fun!

We are running a couple of specials for our last weekend....

Fall wreaths are 20% off!! (#8)

Sunday Pumpkin Pie Special: $1.99 for pie and coffee (#7)

(You can't beat that...even on a chilly day!)

We live in North Dakota, so you never can tell what the weather may do! Even if it doesn't warm up for the weekend, you should still come and see us and take a look in the barn and the shop! We still have great things for sale!(#6)

#5. Dorothy is still out in the corn maze and needs help finding her way home...

#4. While we might not have really had a fall, we can't just give up! If you decorate your home for fall, it will feel like fall!

#3. You can brag to your relatives that live in warmer climates that you actually went out into a field and picked your pumpkin. Then you knocked the snow off of it.

#2. Are you seriously going to skip carving pumpkins for Halloween because of the weather? We're tougher than that and it's tradition!

And the #1 reason to come and spend a little time at Potters Way

this weekend is...

It's the experience of being together with friends and family that makes everything worthwhile! No matter how young or how old, how big or how small, there's something for everyone at Potters Way!

Baby, it's cold outside!

2009-10-09T11:06:00.001-07:00

Despite the below normal chill in the air, we will be open this weekend, for those willing to brave the elements!

Again, as a reminder, bring your boots! It's still pretty muddy out in the corn maze and pumpkin patch!

Just because it's cold, doesn't mean everyone still won't need pumpkins for carving and decorating for Halloween! We have plenty left and we'd be willing to bet there's one with your name on it! Come and see us soon!

Our recent visitors...

2009-10-09T07:02:00.000-07:00

The Scarlett O'Hatters came out to Potters Way one evening last week and had a wonderful time! We appreciate the pictures you sent and hope you'll come and visit us again soon!

DiAnn Sigafoos from Ellendale came out last weekend with her boys and some friends. She shared a few of the moments of their fun afternoon!

Having fun picking our gourds in the barn!

Makes you wonder how we ever operated this place without those special black kitties?

Getting a photo with ghosts in the barn!

Posing with a scarecrow and lounging in our "designated lounging area"....

Thanks for sharing and remember, please let us know if you have pictures you'd like to share! We LOVE sharing with everyone!

Rain, rain....go away!

2009-10-02T11:49:00.000-07:00

Due to our recent monsoon-like rain, we will not be opening the corn maze this weekend and the wagon ride to the pumpkin patch will be unavailable also.

We will still have the animals available to view and we'll have a full barn full of produce! The kids can still play in the straw bales and we'll have our normal concessions available in the shop.

As always, we rely on God to provide, so we hope you'll still come out and enjoy what's available! Pray for sunshine!

Bring your galoshes....

2009-10-02T04:41:00.000-07:00

Or your rainboots, your overshoes, or even your pair of beat up old tennis shoes. We hope you'll make the trek out to see us this weekend, but if you do, it's pretty wet from our recent rains, so we just encourage everyone to wear shoes that can get a little dirty and Mom won't mind! We'll see you soon!

Random Acts of Fun...

2009-09-28T09:36:00.001-07:00

Here's the Dethlefsen family from Oakes shopping for some gourds after going through the corn maze and choosing their pumpkins. These girls know how to shop and they know exactly what they want, too!

The Muggli family stopped for a quick photo op with the ghosts in the barn!

Even as the sun starts to sink below the barn, it's a perfect time of day for a wagon ride!

We'd tell you that little Nathan Schmitz is a pumpkin that's for sale, but he's already been put in a customer's wagon!

It's clear...he LOVES fall just as much as we do! :-)

Who Can Find the Biggest Pumpkin?

2009-09-28T09:24:00.000-07:00

This weekend at Potters Way, we decided to keep track of who had purchased the biggest pumpkin and some families were definitely up to the challenge of finding the biggest one! It was fun to see people get so excited about it...it wasn't so much fun to haul these big guys out to the cars!

Shari Wendel and her kids with their friends came out on Friday and through that day, had purchased the most pounds of pumpkins by one group. The real surprise was that their wagons weighed EXACTLY the same! How ironic! The must have planned that!

Saturday morning, Abby came out with her family and chose the biggest pumpkin yet...it weighed 60 pounds! Abby also LOVED our black kitties, and they loved her right back!

By Saturday evening, Abby's pumpkin had been beat by Paulina's. This pumpkin weighed 62 pounds!

Not to be outdone, Bill and Tara Schmitz's kids, Allie and Brianna, and their cousin, Grace, came back out on Sunday and fought the wind to find what is now the reigning champion of pumpkins at 63 pounds! We really thought there was at least one out there that weighed over 70 or 80 pounds...maybe if they sit out there a bit longer, they'll continue to get bigger!

The challenge has been thrown down! We'll see how big the biggest can be!

The Fun Never Ends at Potters Way!

2009-09-28T09:12:00.000-07:00

Our opening weekend provided us beautiful weather and great food from Schwan's to make it a really memorable visit for our customers! We love to share photos of the families that come to visit, so remember to send them to us so we can post them!

Families rode the Pumpkin Express out to the patch to pick their perfect pumpkins!

Little people rode the little wagons courtesy of Grandma Karen...

A pile of pumpkins....

a barn floor covered with straw...

and a bin to look in can keep kids entertained for HOURS!

We had visitors from ALL over the place our opening weekend! People came from Aberdeen, Jamestown, Groton, Steele, Gackle, Wisconsin, Ellendale, LaMoure, and Fargo! We also can't forget our local Oakes folks who took advantage of the great pumpkin picking weather! We'll continue to share stories and pictures, so send them our way!

Haunted Farm Cancelled!

2009-09-24T10:29:00.000-07:00

Due to scheduling conflicts, we will not be haunting Potters Way this year. We thank everyone who came out last year and hope you all have a great Halloween!

We are still open for 4 more weekends to pick out the perfect carving pumpkin!

Reasons to Come to Potters Way!

2009-09-17T19:53:00.000-07:00

The tractor and wagon are all shined up and ready to take you to the patch...

The pergola has all the seating needed to take advantage of the yummy treats from Schwan's on Saturday...

Big Pumpkin Face and Little Pumpkin Face are waiting to greet you...

The corn shock displays are waiting to be viewed...

There's photo opportunities everywhere...

We stack pumpkins to make a pleasant shopping environment...

The kitties are resting, so apparently, all the work is done!

We can't wait to see you this weekend!

The scarecrows are up and the pumpkins are picked!

2009-09-16T19:37:00.000-07:00

You'll see a new face greeting you in the pumpkin patch this year. It's Stanley the Scarecrow and he's one of the many great photo opportunities for you and your family at Potters Way!

We have been picking our produce for sale in the barn and we have it curing in the sun! Thank the Lord for the beautiful weather these past few days...it's been wonderful for our pumpkins and our other produce.

Friday's the day....we'll get one more blog in before our opening!

Opening Weekend Events

2009-09-13T11:33:00.000-07:00

Besides all the fun you can have at Potters Way on a normal weekend, here are the events of our opening weekend to take note of...

Saturday, September 19th

11:00 - 6:00

Schwan's Serving Food

Schwan's will be serving hamburgers, ice cream treats and pop on Saturday,

so you don't have to worry about planning lunch!

First Weekend Special

Fresh Pumpkin Arrangements

$14.95 each

We hope you'll stop out and visit! We are looking forward to sharing our fun country environment with all of you again!

The 411 on Specialty Pumpkins

2009-09-03T10:33:00.000-07:00

We've got some beautiful specialty pumpkins growing this year and besides sharing the pictures and their names, we wanted to also explain why these pumpkins are often referred to as "Heirloom" pumpkins.

For a plant to be considered an heirloom plant, it must be an open pollination plant. This means that the plant is capable of producing seeds from this season's plant that produces seedlings exactly like the parent plant. Some of our pumpkin varieties qualify as heirloom plants,which means they've never been cross-hybridized with any other plant. Some of these varieties have been around for hundreds of years! Again, what a wonder of nature!

A couple of these varieties are cross-hybrids, meaning they are a cross between a standard pumpkin variety and a unique squash. Whether heirlooms or hybrids, they're all natural and all spectacular!

You won’t find a pumpkin as unique as ‘Brodé Galeux d’Eysines’. The French love pumpkins and have cultivated many treasures. One of their most fine, ‘Brodé Galeux d’Eysines’ – meaning “Embroidered with warts from Eysines” (a small city in the southwest of France) – is a really funky pumpkin!

The blue-gray color, deep ribs and perfect pumpkin shape of ‘Jarrahdale’ is often a favorite and we have some gorgeous ones growing in the patch!

Nothing is more vibrant than the rich orange-red of ‘Rouge Vif d’ Etampes’.‘Rouge Vif d’ Etampes’ another French favorite, has impressive flattened, dark orange-red fruit. Sometimes called “the Cinderella pumpkin,” it’s great in any fall table display.

Another sought-after variety are the beautiful white pumpkins. This variety is called "Valenciano" and they are so brilliantly white, you almost need shades to look at them! :-)

We are enjoying the treasures we're already finding in the patch and are looking forward to harvesting them soon! The regular orange pumpkins are really starting to turn, so we're ready to have you out to visit! See you soon!

Change to Fall Season Dates!

2009-08-19T12:51:00.000-07:00

Fall Season Opening September 18!

If you go back to last year at this time and look at your blog, you'll see that we had pumpkins starting to turn already. We thought we had an unusual year for growing pumpkins last year!

The weather proved to fool us again with large amounts of rain, but little heat. Due to this, we are moving our opening date back one week to September 18. We are hoping the additional week will give the produce what it needs to ripen for the picking!

We hope to see you soon!

Lo, How the Corn is Growing

2009-08-19T12:27:00.000-07:00

You'd think that after one full year of running the pumpkin patch, we would be able to easily improve upon that experience. Well, how quickly we forget that we are not in control. We are constantly reminded that we are at the mercy of nature and we have to trust that God will provide.

We took a walk through the corn maze today and took some pictures to show the areas that are "stunted". With the regular and often excessive rainfall we received this year, particularly in the beginning of the growing season, there are sections of the corn field that just didn't get a very good start.

Here you see the parts of the field where the corn is easily over the head of a person nearly 6 feet tall.

Then, in the same field, you see where the standing water really affected the growth of the corn.

We were really just kidding about the corn maze being perfectly proportioned for munchkins...now it's actually true!

The maze is still difficult and has an exciting new Wizard of Oz theme,

so we're confident you won't be disappointed!

Mary, Mary, Quite Contrary, How Do Your Pumpkins Grow?

2009-08-07T12:23:00.000-07:00

If you've never heard what it takes to grow pumpkins, we think it's about time someone told you. The whole process never ceases to amaze us. God's handiwork is evident everywhere!

Have you ever looked out in a pumpkin field in the middle of the summer and noticed the beautiful yellow flowers?

In about mid-July, you'll see pumpkin plants starting to produce yellow flowers. These blossoms are critial to the growing of the fruit itself. Upon closer inspection, you'll see two kinds of flowers, male and female. (Shown below is the male flower on the left and the female flower on the right.)

The female flower has tiny pumpkins at its base and the male flower contains pollen. In order for the pollen to make its way from the males to the females, nature requires a carrier. What creatures fit the bill? Bees, of course!

About 2 weeks ago, we had a hives of bees delivered to the pumpkin patch to start this process. Once the flowers are pollinated, the fruit at the base of the female blossom develops into a full size pumpkin. Without the bees, the pumpkins wouldn't grow!

Our bees have done their job, because as you can see, we do have large pumpkins starting to come! (Now we need some heat to make them really grow and turn to orange)

How's that for amazing?!?
Nature is God's most visible miracle...take time to appreciate it!

Pumpkins, a corn maze and gourds...Oh My!

2009-07-14T13:18:00.000-07:00

Fall Season Opens September 11!

Summer greetings to all of you! We are getting ready for our fall season again and wanted to write a quick note to welcome you back to Potters Way!

We have our "Wizard of Oz" themed corn maze cut and the pumpkins are growing beautifully! When you come to visit, you'll notice the ride to the pumpkin patch takes a different route! Since we have to rotate crops to ensure growth, the patch is in a different field this year. The pumpkins are loving what we'd consider nearly perfect growing conditions! We haven't been dragging hoses around by hand to get them watered this year!

Our pergola is totally finished now with landscaping around the edges. This will provide nice additional seating when you come to visit and enjoy your snacks!

Again, we can't say how excited we are to be getting ready for this season and we hope to see you soon! Keep checking in on our progress..only 8 weeks to go now!

Brrrrrr!

2008-12-18T07:07:00.000-08:00

Needless to say, being hit with over a foot of snow last weekend in our blizzard put a damper on business at Potters Way. We did have some custom orders, so we'd like to share what was delivered this past week to our happy customers.

This weekend will be open our regular hours again. It's our last business weekend of 2008! We hope to see you!

Uff-Da!

2008-12-12T11:40:00.000-08:00

A big thank you goes out to Grandma Dorothy and Cousin Sadie for coming to Potters Way last weekend and sharing their fresh lefse! If you've never had a piece hot off the griddle, you really missed out! Here are some shots of the lovely Lefse Ladies working hard!

The Santa hats were donned, the poinsettias were foiled, and even Tyke put on his Christmas sweater! It's definitely Christmastime at Potters Way!

This weekend, we will be sampling the homemade barbecue sauce that's for sale in our shop. It's locally made and delicious! Come out and try some!

Also, it's not too late to order fresh arrangements. They make wonderful gifts and are custom-ordered to what you want! Just call us at 701-742-2831 and we will deliver!

This Weekend's Events

2008-12-05T11:10:00.001-08:00

We received our shipment of poinsettias this week.

The price list is shown below with some pictures.

Small poinsettia w/ foil and a bow: $8.99

Poinsettia in 6" pot w/ foil and bow: $14.50

Poinsettia in 6" basket: $15.99

3 plant in basket: $35

This Saturday, join us for lefse made right in our shop by Grandma Dorothy and Cousin Sadie! It will be hot off the griddle and available for purchase.

Again on Sunday, come and enjoy a piece of homemade pecan pie with coffee.

We still have beautiful fresh trees to choose from and the store has been restocked with some custom arrangements.

We hope to see you this weekend!

Christmas at Potters Way!

2008-12-02T17:35:00.000-08:00

We had a wonderful opening weekend for Christmas at Potters Way and we want to share some of the pictures we have of our customers.

Amanda Greenley and her sons, Colton and Haven, stopped to show us their perfect tree!

Steve and Luann Anderson and their family are sizing up a tree while Jean cuts their fresh cedar garland.

One family is braving the chilly weather to get their tree tied down on the roof of their car!

The Fischer family from Fargo came to visit us again and this time, Meg and Thompson were looking for the perfect tree instead of the perfect pumpkin! They picked out their family tree and Meg even got a tree top for her bedroom.

The ladies from the Oakes Red Hat Society are enjoying the homemade pecan pie on Sunday.

We also got a visit from the Guleph Garden Club. We hope all these ladies make their visit to Potters Way a tradition!

We want to thank everyone who came and made our opening weekend such a wonderful time. We especially want thank those that came out on Friday and registered for our drawing. We'd like to congratulate Laura Donaldson for winning the fresh wreath, and Kathy Boos, for winning the Watkin's gift certificate!

Stay tuned for information about this upcoming weekend!

Christmas Opening Weekend!

2008-11-27T17:16:00.001-08:00

Here's an update on what will be happening at Potters Way for our opening weekend.

Friday:

Stop by and register to win this fresh wreath or a $25 Watkin's gift certificate.

Saturday: Enjoy our "Great Tastings" of Watkin's food products.

Sunday: Warm, fresh, homemade pecan pie with whipping cream will be served as a Sunday treat.

We'd like you to see some of the additional themes in our shop. For those of you who enjoyed our variety of preserves during the fall, you'll be pleased to see an expanded line.

We can't wait to open again for the Christmas season and we look forward to seeing you there! From all of us at Potters Way, we hope you had a blessed Thanksgiving with friends and family!

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas!

2008-11-25T05:47:00.000-08:00

Welcome to our first Christmas blog! We are so excited to be opening Potters Way this weekend for our Christmas season. We want to keep you all informed of what's going on, so be sure to check back before each weekend to see what's coming up.

Our fresh trees were delivered last Tuesday. We expected them at about 2:00 pm, and they drove the truck in the yard around 7:00 pm. The pictures are a little dark, but you can see how the trees came to us.

It snowed in Oakes last week, just in time for us to get some of our outside lights up.

Doesn't this just make you want to come and visit us again?!? We hope you will!

More to follow on our opening weekend's events!

Ooooo....Scary!

2008-11-16T16:58:00.000-08:00

We apologize for not getting these out sooner... it seems we got delayed, kind of like the Haunted Farm itself. :-) We want to thank everyone who volunteered for the event and of course, everyone who came to be voluntarily scared. Because it was so dark, we only got a few shots, but we hope you enjoy them!

Some more pumpkin pics!

2008-10-25T11:40:00.000-07:00

We received some additional pictures from some of our customers and

wanted to post them on the blog to share.

Here are Ed and Linda Huffman's grandkids having fun in the corn maze

The following pictures of shots of our cousin Anne's little guy, Maclain. They came on the last weekend, which was cold and rainy, but he seems to having fun anyway...well, except for the part where we was in a bin of pumpkins!

And here he is with his Aunt Amy, Grandma Pam and Great-Grandma Evelyn. We're so glad you came to visit!

Haunted Farm...Rained Out!

2008-10-24T11:14:00.000-07:00

Due to rain, we will be postponing the Haunted Farm at Potters Way until next weekend, Friday, October 31st and Saturday, November 1st. The times will still be 7 pm - 11 pm both nights. We hope you can all make it out next weekend!

Thank You!

2008-10-14T14:11:00.000-07:00

We just wanted to take a minute to thank everyone who came to visit us at Potters Way this season! We hope that everyone who came had as wonderful a time as we did! As we run the pumpkin patch for 4 weekends, we are officially finished with our fall season, and are preparing for the Haunted Farm, which is to be on October 24th and 25th.

We will re-open again for our Christmas season on November 28th and will run again, 4 weekends, until December 21st. We'd love to see you at Christmas, but if you can't make it, we'll see you next year in the fall!

God bless!

More Weekend Excitement!

2008-10-10T06:20:00.000-07:00

We had another beautiful weekend for the pumpkin patch and we had a record Saturday! Here are some shots of our visitors...

The girl scout group had a blast going through the corn maze and picking out their pumpkins.

Parents, beware...if your little pumpkins crawl into our bins, they just might get purchased! :-)

Our Sunday was a little rainy and chilly, but we did have some brave vistors. Here are the Wagner kids with their cousins and Brian and Amber Sorum brought out Jackson to visit! Thanks for sharing your pictures with us!

This morning, we woke up to the sound of rain, and while it's a little disheartening since this is our last weekend, we want everyone to know that we have plenty of pumpkins and other produce available for purchase in the barn. We'll do everything we can to make it a great experience, rain or shine!

The Seefeldt's...

2008-10-02T06:46:00.000-07:00

Yes, once again, we'd like to dedicate a blog to our wonderful family. This past weekend, Jean's brother, Dan, and his entire family came to help us. While we couldn't capture shots of them all, to Dan, Berna, Ben, Jim, Alex, Matthew, Rachel and last, but certainly, not least, their exchange student from Guatemala, Jorge, we say THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!

Getting a thumbs-up from the guys on their way to the patch and waiting for the Pumpkin Express to return so they can haul tons of pumpkins!

Musically talented and a stellar pumpkin hauler! Jorge, you were a huge help, and we hope you had fun, in spite of the fact that you had to work so hard!

Grandpa and Grandma Seefeldt helped out, too! The delicious pumpkin pies are all the work of Dorothy's hand, and Howard was busy hauling pumpkins. This is a great shot of several of the Seefeldt clan unloading a wagon full of pumpkins.

Again, we just want to say thank you. We love you all so much!

The Fun Never Ends!

2008-10-02T06:13:00.001-07:00

The fun continues with more families coming out to visit and more pumpkins taken home than we could have ever imagined! Here's some interesting stats so far:

Pumpkins sold: Tons. In fact, 7 tons! That's right, people, families have taken home over 14,000 pounds of pumpkins in two weeks!

Heaviest pumpkin sold: 71 pounds. No kidding. We made him carry it to his car. :-)

Most pounds sold to one family: Over 500. We'd name names, but you know who you are. You just can't get enough of these pumpkins!

If statistics don't impress you, we'll continue to share the real people having fun at our place. Here's some more pictures of our precious visitors...

Thompson and Meg Fischer are hanging out in the corn maze, while little Anniston is hanging out on a pumpkin! :-)

The Fossum's came out with their kids and grandkids

Deklan and Blakely Gill

Many kids and families having fun!

We hope you'll come and visit, too!

Opening Weekend Excitement!

2008-09-24T07:31:00.000-07:00

Here are some shots of our visitors to Potters Way this weekend. The Red Hat Society ladies came out to visit on Sunday and enjoyed their fresh pumpkin pie and a wagon ride. The Hankel boys and Ellie Cline are walking up the path from the corn maze.

Here are Peg Nelson's grandchildren with the Boo Family in the corn maze, watching Halder clip his pumpkin and baby Leah hanging out in a bin full of bright, orange pumpkins!

Our wonderful family really pulled together to make this successful weekend possible! We love you all so much and we think that everyone will love these pictures of the help having fun, too!

We're Ready!

2008-09-18T08:46:00.000-07:00

Hi and welcome to the last blog before we open our doors for business tomorrow! We are so excited and just can't believe how things have come together. (Really, we can't believe it!) Here are some pictures of the displays that really make Potters Way special!

Here is some of the great produce we have available for sale in the barn. As you can see, we have pumpkins nearly 5 times the size of Tyke!

The Work Continues....

2008-09-06T17:55:00.000-07:00

We started harvesting our gourds and specialty pumpkins today. Needless to say, it's a ton of work, but look at how awesome they are!

The hoop barn is finally cleaned out and ready for the displays and pumpkins to be brought in. It's a huge, bright space, and we have plenty to fill it!

Here's an updated shot of the pergola. Tom's working hard on finishing the patio and then we'll be ready for our firepit!

Sign, signs, everywhere the signs!

2008-09-06T17:51:00.001-07:00

As we approach our opening, we're starting to get some of our signs in place. It's a big deal to us, so we thought we'd share! :-)

Yay...Pumpkins!

2008-08-31T18:19:00.000-07:00

We're about 3 weeks from our opening day and it's amazing to see the progress of the pumpkins. We've had a very unusual year for growing pumpkins, with it being very cold in June, giving them a late start, and enduring a near drought for much of the summer. But, now as the foliage is dying back, you can really see the pumpkins in the patch! I guess it's true what our friend, Marty, said...God really can grow pumpkins without rain!

It's also exciting to see some of our specialty pumpkins coming along! The bright orange one is called a "Cinderella", the light white pumpkin with orange veins is called "One Too Many"- as the veins get darker and more red, the pumpkin will start to look like bloodshot eyes, hence the name :-) The bright white pumpkins are called "Crystal Star".

Don't you just LOVE pumpkins? They're waiting for you to come and take them home!

Getting Closer

2008-08-26T13:16:00.000-07:00

It's August 26th today, and we're less than one month from our opening day! We couldn't be more excited for our opening, and we're making good progress towards being ready. Here is a shot of our store now...there's even merchandise inside!

Here we're putting up the wall art in the building and throwing straw bales to create our fort.

The picture on the left is the path from our barn to the corn maze and the shot on the right is the site for our outdoor firepit and pergola.

Potters Way - The Inspiration

2008-08-26T13:07:00.000-07:00

We wanted to give you all an idea of the inspiration behind the name Potters Way and also a reason why we wanted to start this business in the first place. If you haven't had a chance to check out the "About Us" on our website, that helps, too, but this picture shows you why we chose the name we did.

If you can't read this very well, it's a Bible verse from Isaiah 64, "We are the clay, you are the potter; we are all the work of your hand." We put this verse on a main wall in our store to remind us of our reason for being here.

Making Progress

2008-08-16T10:57:00.000-07:00

Hi again. We're sorry we haven't kept you more informed of our progress on the site for Potters Way. It's been an extremely busy couple of months, but we'll try to bring you up to speed. Here are some recent pictures of the progress we've made on our building.

Just some finishing work, and it will be ready!

The pumpkins themselves are coming along,too! You'll see from the pictures below that the pumpkins haven't started to turn orange yet, but there is one that's almost turned. They should be ready in time for our opening!

Please keep checking back as plan to update our blog on a weekly basis!

2008-06-24T07:18:00.000-07:00

Hi...Here's our country store today. We are working on landscaping the grounds and I hope to be painting the walls inside this week. So much to do and the time keeps ticking away! But we will be ready for customers September 19.

Potters Way - The Beginning

2008-06-13T11:04:00.000-07:00

Hi. Welcome to our first post. We're very excited to bring Potters Way to you this fall. There is an incredible amount of work going on to get ready. We will be posting progress on this blog, so check back often.

This is a picture of the start of our country store in March. More pictures will be coming soon.