admincorn, Author at Red Barn Corn Maze

Pumpkin ideas

admincorn — Mon, 27 Oct 2025 03:12:49 +0000

Not every year has ideal weather for pumpkins, but 2025 proved to have ideal growing conditions! We were able to get the pumpkins planted before the end of May, and had just the right amount of rain and heat when it was needed. As a result, we had an abundant crop. Lots of folks were able to find some big, small, and unique pumpkins to display and carve. But what do we do with all the extras in the field? After our children and employees loaded up their porches, we still have plenty to feed the goats and chickens...and ourselves! I've shared with a few of our guests some of my pumpkin uses, and as promised, am posting a few here. I'll start out with my soup, but if you scroll down, I have some general pumpkin tips and ideas.

If you plan to eat your pumpkins after displaying them for a few weeks, wash them with a disinfectant of your choice as soon as you get them home. This should help to kill or inhibit any bacteria living on the surface to slow down any decomposition of the pumpkin.

Pumpkin Curry Soup

My favorite pumpkin soup! Just the right amount of spice and warmth for cool winter days.

2 Tbsp coconut oil (or butter)
1/4 cup onion, minced or grated
1 tsp garlic, minced or grated
1/4 tsp salt and 1/4 tsp pepper
2 cups pumpkin puree
1-1/2 cups chicken broth

2 tsp curry powder
1/2 tsp ginger, powder or grated
1/3 cup heavy cream, half & half, or milk
1 Tbsp corn starch
1 Tbsp honey
Dashes of crushed red pepper, optional

In large saucepan, heat the oil and onion over medium heat for 5-7 minutes until onion is tender.
Add the garlic, salt, and pepper and cook for another 3 minutes.
Add pumpkin puree and chicken broth. Stir well and simmer for 10 minutes.
Add curry and ginger. Simmer for another 3 minutes
Whisk cornstarch into the cold heavy cream or milk, and then whisk the mixture into the soup. Add the honey and optional crushed pepper. Simmer for a final 5 minutes.

I like to serve the soup with some toast, which is great for cleaning out the bowl when you are done. If you like the coconut flavor, you can use coconut milk, but you may want to add another tablespoon of corn starch to thicken it up.

Pumpkin puree

To make the pumpkin puree, I set the pumpkin in the sink and clean the surface with soap and water (if you didn't do this already before setting it out as a decoration). Boil some water in a teapot or pan, and pour the boiling hot water over the pumpkin. This should soften the skin just enough to make it easier to cut.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

Halve or quarter the pumpkin, depending on the size, while avoiding the stem for easier cutting. If you have a heavily ribbed pumpkin like a Princess or Blue Doll, you can cut it into wedges along the ribs.

The flesh should be firm and the seeds stringy. If it seems at all mushy or runny inside, discard the pumpkin. (Sometimes I've opened some that seem fresh but are not looking too good when cut open.) Remove any seeds and pulp from the center.

Pierce the skin with a fork, and place the halves or wedges on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake until the pumpkin is easily pierced through with a fork or butter knife, about 45-60 minutes.

Remove from oven and allow to cool until you can handle it. If you need to step away for a bit, cover it to trap in the moisture. Scoop out the flesh away from the skin. Working in batches, puree in a food processor or blender. Depending on the moisture content of the pumpkin, you may need to add a small amount of water. Process until smooth.

I like to freeze my pumpkin. I'll scoop 2 cup portions into freezer bags or quart size canning jars, which is the amount needed for a batch of pumpkin curry soup. I'll also pour it into ice cube trays or silicone muffin cups. When frozen, I bag up the cubes. You can then use the cubes in smoothies or to thicken other soups, sloppy joes, etc.

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On Wisconsin!

admincorn — Thu, 15 Aug 2024 02:02:28 +0000

During May 2023, Wisconsin celebrated its 175th anniversary of becoming a state. Although I sketched ideas for other maze designs already, when this came to my attention I knew what our 2023 maze would be. The flag of Wisconsin has so many symbols representing the rich history of the state; there was no shortage of images to use.

I reached out to our state assemblyman, Joel Kitchens, and our state representative, Andre Jacque. They connected us with others in the state government who graciously sent me images of each of the flag symbols. They also realized that no one had ever digitized the original symbols. All of the photo images in their system were simply scanned from flags. That's why the sailor and miner have only half arms, because on the flag each has a hand behind the shield.

There was much to learn about the state's history. I found so much of it fascinating, and tried to include the information in banners and posters around the grounds and maze. I don't know how many people actually read them, but I shared as much as possible with our field trip groups.

The 2023 Corn Maze

The maze was almost a little harder for me to navigate, since most of the county lines were straight. The overlay of some symbols in the state kept me from getting turned around. I fit almost all of the flag symbols in the maze. The only one that didn't work out was the pyramid of iron ingots. Keeping corn between the lines would have made the symbol quite large.

We are grateful for everyone who came to visit us in 2023! Some were return customers from 2022, and others sent their friends and family! The fall was quite wet, and many folks needed to hose off their shoes and stroller tires after the maze and pumpkin patch. We are also appreciative of our2023 sponsors, and the different media outlets who shared our state story with their audiences as news articles.

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Oh my, we decided to open a Corn Maze

admincorn — Mon, 21 Mar 2022 15:14:24 +0000

We must be crazy. With at least four businesses already, five children, animals, and too many community groups to count, what were we thinking? Fall of 2021 we were spending a weekend away in Michigan with our two youngest, 15 and 9, and looking for something we could all do together. Now, anyone with children of different ages knows that finding an activity that everyone is excited about is a challenge. Most often, either a child or a parent ends up dragging their feet along, asking when we are done, or worse yet, staring at a phone the whole time. I was checking the local paper and found two corn mazes advertised in the area. Our 15 year old daughter, who would have rather spent the weekend with her older siblings back home, was on board, so off we went.

Our family used to enjoy an annual visit to Door County's former corn maze, but they had been closed for a few years now. We arrived at the Michigan venue, donned some extra layers (it was chilly) and dove in. After tackling the maze, we explored the grounds while waiting for a hay ride to the pumpkin patch and apple slingshot. Kevin and I sat on a bench as we watched our two daughters laughing and racing each other up the hay bale mountain. Seeing the our two girls laughing together, and all of the other families playing and smiling, Kevin said, "we could do this." So, our journey began.

We visited a couple more mazes in the fall of 2021. As we traveled, we made some notes of what we liked and what we would do differently. Arriving home, we filled our older kids in on our plans, and they started coming up with ideas for a haunted maze, which we hope to do at the end of October. Although Door and Kewaunee counties have orchards and pumpkin patches, they currently have no corn maze. Corn mazes appeal to all ages, and our hope is that other families will visit our maze and have the same great experience that we always have had. It's going to be a lot of work, and I'm sure we'll be questioning our sanity a bit when, in the midst of a hot and otherwise busy June, we are planting all those pumpkins and plotting the maze in the field. If it brings families together and gives them a reason to set aside the phones for a few hours, it will all be worth it.

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