Past mazes
2022, Year One: Introducing Red Barn Corn Maze
Our inaugural year, 2022, revealed our logo and gave tribute to our barn quilt.
It was our first year cutting a corn maze, and we had a bit of a learning curve. We tried different methods to square up the different sections, including running twine through the corn to create 300 foot blocks. To create the arch in our logo, we stationed a person at the center with one end of a 300 foot tape measure. Two people, one at 175 feet and one at 230 feet, planted periodic flags as they walked the radius.
We discovered that we needed to work earlier and faster with our plotting, since the corn was well over our heads as we finished up the cutting.
We also found that we needed to continually walk the trails to re-cut and groom in order to keep the trails clear. It was definitely a learning curve year!
2023, Year Two: Wisconsin's 175th Birthday
On May 21, 1848, Wisconsin officially became a state. In 2023, we celebrated the 175th anniverasy of our statehood by placing a map of the state in our field.
Our state flag is very detailed, with a variety of symbols representing the resources and characteristics of our state in 1848. I was able to incorporate all but one of the symbols (a pyramid of iron ingots) by overlaying them on and around a county map of Wisconsin.
We started cutting this year's maze sooner than the first year, and decided to try plowing up the rows of emerging corn. Unfortunately, the corn seedlings were quite hardy, and in most trails this did little more than cultivate the corn. We ended up returning a few weeks later with the lawn mower to re-cut the paths.
This year we had a drought in the beginning of the growing season, and also added fertilizer after the trails were cut. We then had the trails rolled to smooth them out, but the roller driver accidently followed one of the fertilizer tire tracks, and knocked down a couple of extra lanes through Northern Wisconsin. In the heat of late July, we were out in the maze transplanting stalks and re-seeding in an attempt to close off the "oops" trails.
If you want to read more about the development of our Wisconsin-themed maze, check out our blog entry: On Wisconsin
2024, Year Three: Lake Michigan Shipwrecks
The previous summer, in July 2023, Wisconsin Maritime Historians Brendon Baillod and Bob Jaeck located the intact remains of the 143 year-old schooner Trinidad off the coast of Algoma, Wisconsin. Also, 100 years ago, in December of 1924, The Lakeland sank off the coast of Sturgeon Bay, WI, carrying a cargo of brand new Nash and Kissel cars.
There are hundreds of shipwrecks in Lake Michigan to choose from. These two were chosen for the design for a number of reasons. They both had photographs of the ships above and below the water, and pictures that created an interesting design in the field. Both of them had interesting stories, and the timing of The Trinidad discovery and the sinking of The Lakeland both had ties to 2024.
This growing season was very wet through May and June. The field was planted 3 weeks late, and we were concerned it would not have time to grow to the heights needed. We used a pre-emergent fertilizer, but because of the heavy rains, it washed out, creating very uneven growth. In August, using a wagon and a pail, we scattered fertilizer on the barely knee-high corn and prayed for the best. Although the final crop certainly still had its high and low spots, the corn did eventually grow enough to fill in between the trails.
In 2024 we also added two bridges to the field, with crossed trails going over and under the bridges.