A2O-Lancaster Farming, Saturday, October 29, 1994
‘Entertainment Farming ’ Educates Consumers About How Crops Are Grown
ANDY ANDREWS
Lancaster Farming Staff
BUCKINGHAM (Bucks Co.)
—Every year in mid October, cen
tral Bucks County produce farmer
Bill Yerkes opens up the doors on
his farm, rolls out the hay wagon,
brings in the bluegrass band, and
invites people from all over to see
and enjoy his pumpkin festival.
None Such Farm Market’s
Annual Pumpkin Festival, held
Oct 15-16, drew thousands of visi
tors to the farm for two days of
pumpkin picking, hayrides, pony
rides, bean bag tossing, face paint
ing, a bluegrass band, and all kinds
ol food.
But along with this concept of
"entertainment farming” comes
the effort of educating an increas
ingly nonaware public about many
aspects of farming, according to
Yerkes.
While it may be hard for many
traditional truck farmers to survive
on wholesale prices for their pro
ducts, Yerkes has other plans. In a
recent interview with Lancaster
Farming, Yerkes believes there
are opportunities for truck farmers,
Yerkes, here pulling soli samples, believes he Is fortu
nate to have proper soil drainage. That was specially chal
lenging, since the farm recorded 15 Inches of rain In five
weeks at one time. Yerkes said that one time, more than
three Inches per week fell, twice as much as Ideal, with one
four-inch rainfall coming In a 24-hour period.
- festival Is growing so fast that
we’re having trouble keeping up with it,” said. “The whole
Yerkes has 10 acres in pumpkin production, Including many varieties (Howden * h,n 9 Is geared toward kids. It’s a fun time for families, partl
the face variety; sugar; spooky; Big Macs; and others). Demand Is up for the face, or cularly the kids,” Many pumpkin figures greet the visitors
carving pumpkins, but down for the cooking or neck pumpkins. down the farm lane.
if they can sell their produce retail
and build up a sufficient customer
base.
But first comes education.
“One of the big problems in a
rapidly developing area as we have
here m central Bucks and Bucking
ham specifically is that a lot of
people don’t have an opportunity
to visit a working farm,” said
Yerkes. “And they’re completely
out of step.”
Yerkes said one day, as he was
cultivating and fertilizing his three
acres of cantaloupe, a securities
salesperson visited the farm. The
salesman asked Yerkes, “Does
cantaloupe grow below ground or
above ground?”
Shrugging, Yerkes said, “If I
didn’t know any more about your
business than you know about
mine, then I’d be in deep trouble.”
Yerkes said the visitor was “a
grown person, a 35-year-old
man!”
To combat farm ignorance,
year-round. None Such Farm
keeps a careful schedule of tours
from various groups in the com
munity. Yerkes, who farms 217
Last week, 4-year-olds from St. Paul’s Growing Together Nursery School In Doyles
town toured the pumpkin patch and saw the animals at None Such Farm in Bucking
ham. Photo by Andy Andrews
For the farm market, Bill Yerkes tills about 350 acres altogether, Including nine
acres of strawberries, 10 acres of pumpkins, 3'A acres of broccoli and cauliflower,
three acres of tomatoes, an acre of raspberries, one acre of peppers, eggplant, and
zucclnl, and grows 13 acres of oats, 3% acres of alfalfa, 25 acres of clover/tlmothy for
the steers, and 125 acres of field corn. He also grows about 120 acres of soybeans.
The market has been in business since 1978.
acres at the central location with
his brother John and family,
invites many organizations onto
the farm, including the local Buck
ingham Elementary School, vari
ous preschools, day care centers,
kindergartens, churches and other
organizations.
Ethel McCulloch, office mana
ger of the farm, keeps a careful
record of when the tour groups
arrive and helps conduct the tours.
Last week, a group of 4-year-olds
from St. Paul’s Growing Together
Nursery School in Doylestown
toured the pumpkin patch and saw
the farm animals.
Yerkes also finishes out about
75 head of beef&rch year. Half of
the meat is custom butchered for
his farm market’s freezer beef
sales and the other half is sold to
local processors.
At the farm, Yerkes tills about
350 acres altogether, including
nine acres of strawberries, 10 acres
of pumpkins, 3'A acres of broccoli
and cauliflower, three acres of
tomatoes, an acre of raspberries,
one acre of peppers, eggplant, and
zuccini, and grows 13 acres of
oats, 3/a acres of alfalfa, 25 acres
of clover/timothy for the steers,
and 125 acres of field com. He also
grows about 120 acres of
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