Essay 31: Vala's Pumpkin Patch

	We were so anxious to begin our research for our Through Our Eyes Project! We were in our school vans on our way to Vala’s Pumpkin Patch. Vala’s Pumpkin Patch is 2 miles east of Gretna. The day we went was warm and sunny. We saw the colorful trees as we drove up the winding lane to the farm. Spacious fields quilted most of the land near the farm. The sky was as blue as a robin’s egg.
During the time Mr. & Mrs. Vala have owned the farm they have grown delicious strawberries, asparagus, and a few pumpkins. Now they produce many acres of bright, orange pumpkins, tiny gourds, and many large and small squash. Mr. Vala shared a few funny stories passed down about life on this farm before it became a pumpkin farm. One woman bumped her car into the chicken coop and startled the chickens so badly they refused to lay eggs for days!
	As we walked past the mums our eyes were filled with many beautiful colors: mums yellow as lemons, golden-yellow as the sun, and bronze as a medal. We saw popcorn and Indian corn glistening in the sun as it hung in trios from the wagons. We also heard very lively country music. Emerald-green and cherry-red colored leaves covered the path. The crisp, brown, yellow and orange leaves crunched and crackled under our feet as we walked.
While walking we saw a rusty,old disc plate which had grown into an aging tree. This must have been here for a long time! We saw many old, spooky buildings. The house, which was built when the farm was homesteaded, now looks and sounds haunted because of the eerie-looking broken windows and spooky music inside the building. We could hear red roosters crowing very loudly in the barnyard.
	The old, rusty, worn-out grainery, which used to hold golden corn and soybeans, now is the farm’s Storybook Barn. This barn is full of busy, animated animals of many sizes and shapes and their songs filled the fresh air as we walked by. The brightly decorated figures made us want to walk right through this unique building.
We next saw the chicken house, which held a variety of small animals. On the farm there were goats, horses, sheep, chickens, llamas and pigs. The goats, which eat anything, tried to eat our papers! This proved that goats will eat anything!! We saw squirrels darting up and down the straight and crooked trees, making their chattering noise. The beautiful, relaxing sound of geese flying south reminded us of the winter season which would soon come upon us.
	We rode through the field on a huge hay rack. The ride was bumpy and the straw was itchy and scratchy! We saw giant pumpkins growing in large fields. We wanted to take all of the pumpkins home! The ride was dusty, because the ground was very rough and dry. The dust hung in the sky like a fine mist. There were huge and little pumpkins just waiting to have a home for Halloween!
When our very bumpy ride was complete and we got off of the hay rack we found old fashioned “stocks” where people used to be placed to be punished when they did something wrong. We posed in the old, wooden stocks for the best class picture. We are sure glad they don’t use these any longer! It would not be fun to have to stay in one of those.
	The Harvest Barn was filled with wonderful smells and sights of fudge, popcorn balls, and candy of all colors. Mr. Vala showed us where the dairy cows were milked long ago. Stanchions were still in place like they had been so many years ago. Stanchions were small, metal devices to hold dairy cows when they were milked. It was hard to imagine the straw that the dairy cows ate in this building 75 to 100 years ago!
We could smell the fabulous scents from the bakery. We smelled wonderful cinnamon, gooey caramel, char-grilled hot dogs, and the delicious smell of hot cider. The Country Bakery was a newer building which was built without nails! This building was constructed in Canada by using pegs, taken apart and rebuilt on the Vala property. The Country Bakery was huge enough to hold 50 - 100 people! This was a highlight to our trip because we got homemade cookies when we returned to school!
	Beyond the Country Bakery was a deserted, dark pumpkin mine. We braved the dark and toured the scary mine. There were sounds of lost miners inside. We walked along the path through the mine and soon found ourselves back outside in the bright, yellow sunlight. We took some time to sit on the mine’s wooden porch and write some of our great thoughts.
Before returning to school we stopped to see what a scarecrow, rising above a cornfield, had to say. He was very realistic, dressed in old, plaid clothing, and some younger children might imagine he could really speak to them!

Our trip to Vala’s Pumpkin Patch and Fall Festival was a great success!! We learned about the history of this farm. We also learned what changes can be made to make a truly fun experience for people of all ages. This picture was taken with the owners, Tim and Jan Vala, in front of the Scarecrow Band, near the Country Bakery. If you are ever in the Gretna, Nebraska area during the month of October, this would be a unique place to visit. We had a super time!! This project was great!!

Thanks for allowing us to share our experience. From Megan, Cody, Ryan, Laura, Ian, Jake, Jessica, Cindy, Stephen, Sarah, Doyle, Chelsea, Katie, Mark, Devyn, Jay, Mitch, Morgan, Emily, Amy, Dana, and Alyssa
Fourth Grade Students, Gretna, Nebraska, U.S.A.