Looking to add a little spice to your pumpkin display? Try one in white, pink or turquois—or maybe one with lumps, bumps, or stripes. You can find them all and more at Albers Acres pumpkin farm located at 60647 413th Ave, Zumbro Falls.
Gavin Albers says he is growing the business based on family tradition. His grandparents have grown pumpkins on the property for about 20 years. He now has 12 Acres dedicated to the fall favorites. Gavin has gone from hand-seeding in previous years to modifying a 1-row John Deere 7000 planter that he pulled behind a four-wheeler this spring. Harvesting is done manually, taking roughly 30 minutes for 3 to 4 people to pick 100 pumpkins.
Ryan Hanf is one of 6-8 employees that help harvest the pumpkins and watch over the sale lot. He first worked for Gavin’s grandfather logging and then Gavin recruited him to pick pumpkins. He now works at the lot after school until 7 pm. Ryan can easily direct customers to what they are looking for saying, “We have pie pumpkins, acorn squash, spaghetti, buttercup and butternut squash. There are small, medium, large and warty pumpkins but mostly big orange ones.” They also sell mini pumpkins, large gourds and Indian corn.
This is the fourth year Albers Acres has been doing on-farm sales but the majority of pumpkin sales are to wholesale customers. There are currently 15 places that source their fall specialty items from the farm including local grocery stores, Hy-Vee, Nilssen’s and Coborn’s. The Lake City and Wabasha Fresh Markets also carry Albers Acres products. A recent college graduate, Gavin grew up in the Alexandria area where he has a network of contacts and delivered 400 pumpkins for distribution.
To keep the crop looking its best, Albers and his crew harvest only what is needed to fill orders as they receive them. Any squash remaining at the end of the season are picked up by local farmers to feed livestock.
In addition to the pumpkins, Gavin grows soybeans, alfalfa, sweet corn and field corn. Four acres of a corn field are dedicated to a corn maze at the farm. The maze is mapped out early and maintained throughout the growing season. The cost to enter the corn maze is $3.00/person with a $15.00/family maximum.
A trip to Albers Acres is great way to spend time with family or friends strolling through the displays, taking advantage of photo opportunities, finding your way through the maze and picking up reasonably priced items for eating or decorating. The farm market is largely self-serve although there is usually someone available to answer questions and help customers. The market is open daily from dawn to dusk through October 31st.
