Devine Pumpkins

I can’t believe that I haven’t blogged on our website since January 1st! Time flies!  I am getting better at managing Facebook with my personal page, the farm page and also the National Road Yard Sale page that I started.  However, I get busy in winter.   Are you asking “busy with what?” (Not counting the recent flooding in our area and thankfully, we are fine at the farm.)  During winter, I stay busy with meetings, participating in various community activities and confirming fun plans for our fall season.  I have been posting some of our dates & events on www.devinefarms.com Our opening weekend this fall is Sept. 29-30 and our last weekend is Oct. 27 & 28 with lots of children's field trips in between! Check out our website for details about the farm’s upcoming fall season.  Also,  the calendar portion of the website is a quick way to check us out.   Plus, I am involved in the Licking County, Ohio Historic (US 40) National Road Yard Sale event which is just around the corner. Licking County has 32 miles of yard sales from Reynoldsburg to Gratiot!  Some yard sales begin May 30 in Brownsville & Kirkersville and run all 5 days. However, the majority of yard sales are on Friday, June 1 and Saturday, June 2 from 9 am to 5 pm. It’s a Super Weekend of Yard Sales for 32 miles! Join us at www.facebook.com/nationalroadyardsale  Till next time……….Charla Devine

Happy New Year! As we all know, today is the first day of the New Year.  This is the first day according to the modern Gregorian calendar as well as the Julian calendar which was used in ancient Rome.  With most countries using the Gregorian calendar as their main calendar, New Year's Day is almost a global holiday.  I like the idea that we are observing the same date world wide.   This gives me hope that we might also collectively celebrate Peace on Earth.....someday.  Since Peace on Earth will take a bit more time, I decided to blog on the tradition of making resolutions at the beginning of the New Year.  Where to start?  Google, of course!  I found that there are about 10 common resolutions.  My personal commentary follows each one.

1.  Spend more time with family & friends...(even after all the togetherness we shared during the holidays, people still want more time together.)

2.  Start an exercise regimen.....(for real this time.)

3.  Go on a diet....(again.)

4.  Quit smoking if you are a smoker...(I'm not but this has to be a tough one.)

5.  Enjoy your life more....(stop and smell the roses so to speak.)

6.  Quit drinking.....(I admit I enjoy a glass or two of chardonnay.  If I switch to red wine because red is better for me, am I still keeping the resolution?)

7.  Get out of debt....(I'll start after I pay off the December charges.)

8.  Learn something new....(yea, I still have time to learn to play the piano!)

9.  Get organized & clear out the clutter.....(ok, but where do I put the plastic tubs I put the clutter in?)

10.  Help others....(always a good idea any time of year.)

11.  Quit watching TV news until the Iowa caucus vote is over....(ok, I added number 11 but I can achieve this one!  I only have to keep it untl January 3rd!)  Till next time......Charla Devine

Winter arrived at the farm with rain on December 22 but today the sun is peeking out behind the clouds.  It's December 24 and our waiting and watching for Christmas is nearly over.  Children wait expectantly for Santa while parents and grandparents scramble to fulfill their lists.  This Advent, I tried to scramble less.  Each week, I attended St. Luke's for their Advent Series entitled, "Watch for the Light."  The purpose was to give the participants a chance to step off the treadmill and reflect on the themes of the season and end with a quiet prayer.  I found the readings, the conversations and the quiet prayers helpful.  Did I scramble less?  Some days I did.    In our modern times, Christmas is a mixture of many symbols from the winter solstice of evergreens, to tiny Tim in A Christmas Carol, to our current image of Santa which springs from a Coca-Cola ad.  Is that when we began to "shop till we drop"?  Probably not but still we tend to become consumed with what still needs to be done.  As we recall the words of tiny Tim, "God Bless us everyone;"  let's also remember that Christmas is about the Child who lies at the heart of it all.  And, his mother names him Jesus.    Till next time.....Charla Devine

We have come to the end of our pumpkin season with bittersweet emotions.  We will miss all of the school children who visited the farm for field trips and all of the families who visited us on our fall weekends.  We have packed up the pumpkin yard and put the tractors in the barn for winter.  Now, we are preparing for Thanksgiving like millions of other people.  This year, there has been much discussion in the media about Black Friday creeping into and becoming Black Thursday.  This prompted me to revisit the origins of Thanksgiving.  According to the History Channel website and our familiar childhood re-enactments at this time of year, the Plymouth colonists and Wampanoag Indians shared an autumn harvest feast in 1621.  This is acknowledged today as one of the first Thanksgiving celebrations in the colonies.  For more than two centuries, days of thanksgiving were celebrated by the individual colonies and states.  However, it wasn't until 1863, in the midst of the Civil War, that President Lincoln proclaimed a national Thanksgiving Day to be held in November.  From that time forth, Thanksgiving was tweaked and finally on December 26, 1941, President Roosevelt signed the legislation making Thanksgiving a national holiday on the fourth (not the last Thursday) in November.  I will not be shopping on Black Thursday or Friday.  I will shop locally on Saturday, Nov. 26th.  Regardless of when you shop, the Devine Family thanks you for your patronage and wishes you a Happy Thanksgiving.  Till next time....Charla Devine

Our last weekend for all of our family activities  is this Saturday and Sunday, Oct. 22 & 23.  It seems like autumn has flown by, doesn't it?   We tend to think that fall begins when school starts and when we see pumpkins at Devine Farms and in front of grocery stores.  (Not unlike spring and mulch at gas stations.)  But, this isn't accurate.  Fall began on Sept. 23rd around 5:30 am and continues until the Winter Solstice, Dec. 22nd at 12:30 am.  This is the first day of winter and the shortest day of the year.  After this date, the days begin to get longer.  We hope you visit Devine Farms this Saturday or Sunday for our last weekend.  Pick out your Halloween pumpkin, ride the Barrel Train Ride one final time and savor the autumn season even if Ohio weather hasn't been the most delightful!  Till next time....Charla Devine

I'm always talking about our pumpkin farm but we wouldn't have a pumpkin without the pollination by the bees!  When schools and other groups visit the farm M-F on field trips, they do a guided tour that combines fun & education.  One of the educational stops is the Bee classroom.  I talk to the children about the importance of bees and pollination.  We would not have most of the foods we eat without pollination.  The children see the bees and find the queen.  On Sunday, Oct. 9th, Paul Swatzel of The River radio station visited the farm.  He took a short video of the bee hive.  I posted it on the Devine Farms facebook page on Monday, Oct. 10th.  Check out the Bee video on our page!   And, this weekend, stop by the farm and find the queen bee in farm building one.  Hint:  the queen bee is not the one wearing pumpkin boggle heads!   Till next time.......Charla

What do these 2 items have in common?  Devine Farms, of course!  Saturday, Oct. 1 is our annual Customer Appreciation Day.  Visit Devine Farms and receive a ticket for a free hotdog from 11 am to 1 pm on Saturday.  This is our way of "saying thanks" for supporting our farm.  When you support our farm, we are able to help worthy causes in the Licking County community.  Devine Farms is donating 5 percent of our gross Agri-Tourism sales to charity.  Ralph & I are giving to some church organizations and also the the Generation Challenge at OSU.  We are ear-marking our donation to Central Ohio Technical College (COTC).  The Generation Challenge is a matching fund to provide scholarships for students.  Gib & Lou Reese are matching up to $10 million dollars to Generation Challenge!  What a generous gift to the Licking County community!  If you donate, they will match your dollars.   Please consider giving to this worthy endeavor.  Every dollar helps!  We also encourage you to support a business that is taking "the challenge" to support Generation Challenge.  Thank you....hope to see you in our pumpkin patch....till next time....Charla Devine www.devinefarms.com

What do pumpkins & eggs have in common?  The answer is Devine Farms!  We hosted our 10th annual Pumpkin Egg Hunt for nearly 100 children + parents on Saturday, Sept. 24th.  What fun!  Kids in costumes, some parents came in costumes too, prizes and the Barrel Train Ride...it doesn't get any better than that!  But wait, there's more.....it does get better!  The Licking County Sheriff's Office printed free ID Print Cards for the children.  They even stayed over to finish up the last child...about 40 children were printed.  Safety materials were handed out to parents.  A big shout out to Sheriff Randy Thorp for promoting this program.  A round of applause for Deputy Nicholas Pease and Evelyn Varrasso, President of Licking County Sheriff's Office Citizens Alumni.  Devine Farms thanks everyone for coming out and making it a fun and safe event.  If you missed the hunt, check out www.devinefarms.com for what's coming up this weekend.   Till next time.....Charla Devine

Fall officially begins on Friday, September 23 at 5:05 am.  I may not be fully awake to appreciate the beginning of fall but I do love pumpkins!  Rest assured, Ralph & I will be "up and at it" getting ready for Opening Weekend at Devine Farms!  It's officially pumpkin time at our pumpkin farm at 10 am on Saturday, September 24th.  Plus, our annual Pumpkin Egg Hunt begins at 10 am sharp on Sept. 24!  This annual event is free and for children 2-10 years old.  Devine Farms gives $100 in prizes away.  Wear a costume and receive a ticket for a free ride on our Barrel Train ride.  The Licking County Sheriff's staff will be on duty to make an ID print card for your child.  Check out all the details at www.devinefarms.com And, now I'm returning to the pumpkin patch till next time.....Charla Devine

Have you smiled today?  I don't know about the rest of you but cooler weather makes me smile.  I'm ready for fall weather....without rain.  Fall is when I can wear sweaters, turtlenecks and the heavier clothes that I pushed to the back of my closet when spring & summer arrived.  I really look forward to wearing my "pumpkin clothes" and getting my face painted for all 5 weekends at our pumpkin farm.  This year, Devine Farms is sharing the face painting duties with the St. Luke's Choristers who will be painting faces for 3 weekends at the farm.   St. Luke's youth group is raising money to travel to Oxford, England next summer.  The Choristers will be part of the choir-in-residence at Christ Church Cathedral in Oxford, England.  Fall  weather, pumpkins on the farm and on my face plus  helping a worthy cause....it's all good.  And, it puts a smile on my face....till next time.....Charla Devine

Are you making a list and checking it twice?  Like most folks, I'm  making "to do" lists, wrapping gifts and generally multi-tasking.   I did get in a bit of fun this week when our grandson, Devin came to spend the day with us.  He enjoyed my pulling him on the sled and even tried to pull me!  He wanted our barn cat, Scotty to take a ride but Scotty has his own ideas and did not hop aboard.  Looks like a White Christmas this year.....Merry Christmas to all.   Till next time...........   

I'm not traveling over the river or through the woods this year.  This year, I'm cooking the turkey.  Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays.  Thanksgiving is family and food.  The meal has all the comfort food anyone could ever want!  Including, the All-American dish, Green Bean Casserole!  Have you ever wondered where this dish originated?  According to Wikipedia, it was invented in 1955 by the Campbell Soup Company test kitchen under the leadership of Dorcas Reilly.  Campbell's wanted to come up with simple recipes using Campell's foods.  The casserole is typical of 1950s American food in that it smothers vegetables in a ready-made, thick, creamy sauce.....Campbell's Soup, of course!  In 2002, Dorcas Reilly presented the original recipe card to the National Inventors Hall of Fame in Akron, Ohio.   And now you know. 

According to the American Farm Bureau Federation:  Thanksgiving dinner will cost slightly more this year but it's still a bargain.  The basic menu items for a classic Thanksgiving dinner (turkey, stuffing, pumpkin pie, cranberries, etc.) increased about 1.3 percent in price this year.  Still, the average cost of this year's feast for 10 is $43.47 compared to 2009 when it was $42.91.  This year's meal is actually $1.14 cheaper than what shoppers paid two years ago when it was $44.61.  To read the entire article, go to the Ohio Farm Bureau website, www.ourohio.org   

I'm thankful for family, friends and other blessings.  I wish you and yours a blessed holiday.  Till next time.....

For those who follow us, I've been keeping up with our Facebook page but I can't believe that I haven't really blogged since our last weekend of Oct. 23-24!  And, what a weekend it was!  Our final fall weekend and last week of school tours is always bittersweet.  We won't be seeing all the smiling school children on field trips or talking with all of the families who visit us on our fall weekends.  I haven't blogged because we have been packing up the barns and putting the tractors inside for the winter.  The pumpkin yard looks empty and lonely without all the pumpkins! 

If you need Indian Corn or a pie pumpkin for Thanksgiving, we have a few left.  We aren't in the pumpkin yard but you can pay on the honor system.  The items are on the porch of farm building one; then look for the pumpkin face on the wall of the porch and "feed the pumpkin's mouth."  We also sell straw and squirrel corn year 'round on the same system.

Ralph and I thank you for visiting the farm this fall.   We appreciate your support not only of our farm business but your support helps the Food Pantry Network.   And, last but never least, a word about the Barrel Train Ride.......I will paraphrase Clement Moore from his story, The Night Before Christmas.....the Barrel Train has been put to bed "for a long winter's nap." 

Until next time.....

Before I talk about our final weekend, I want to thank Ohio Nature Education for visiting the farm last weekend.  Mrs. Van said that 538 people went through her wild animal display! She also mentioned that flying above the farm was a beautiful, mature Bald Eagle.  She thinks it was probably one of the birds from the Fish Hatchery.  If you are interested in volunteering at Ohio Nature Education, please go to their website www.ohionature.org

Yes!  It is our last weekend at Devine Farms.  This weekend is our 6th Weekend for fun.  Can you believe it?  October 23-24 is the last one for the season.  Come on down to the farm this weekend and paint a pumpkin, walk the corn maze and ride the Barrel Train Ride one more time.  You still have plenty of time to pick out that perfect pumpkin for Halloween.  Mr. Magic, Dave Lehman will be doing his final Magic Show on Sunday, Oct. 24 at 1:30 pm, 2:30 pm, and 3:30 pm.  The Magic Show is in Building One and it's just one ticket for children and two tickets for adults. 

Devine Farms is in Licking County in beautiful Hebron, Ohio, not far from Newark and just down the road from Granville.  Our pumpkin farm is about 30 minutes from Columbus & Zanesville.  We are located on SR 40, just 1.5 miles from I-70.  We are an easy drive from anywhere in Ohio.  Come on down and enjoy our last weekend.  Of course, we still have school tours this week and next plus we will be selling pumpkins right up to Halloween.  Check out our Facebook page and this website for all the details.   

What are you doing this weekend? Come on down to Devine Farms for a barrel train ride, a wagon ride & pick out the perfect pumpkin!  This weekend, Oct. 16-17 is weekend number 5 and next weekend, Oct. 23-24 is our last weekend for all of our rides & activities.

This Sunday, Oct. 17, Mrs. Van of Ohio Nature Education visits the farm from 1-3 pm.  She is bringing Halloween critters!  Ohio Nature Education is a private, non-profit volunteer organization which provides a home for wild animals that no longer can live in the wild.  Ohio Nature Education is committed to creating an awareness of, and an appreciation for Ohio's natural habitat and wildlife.  Check out Mrs. Van and her critters this Sunday. 

Did you notice the October photos are loaded on the website?  Click on the Gallery tab and see what happens at Devine Farms.  Miss a weekend, miss a lot!  Plus, a new video is on the Devine Farms Facebook page.  Check it out and see if your are featured!  A shout out goes to Beth Kelly for making the video.  Thanks, Beth!

Devine Farms is a pumpkin farm in Hebron, Ohio which is in beautiful Licking County.  We're about 20 minutes from Newark; 30 from Zanesville and 30 from Columbus, OH.  We are a short drive from Lancaster, Zanesville, New Albany, Westerville - actually, whatever your location, we're an easy drive.  Don't keep the pumpkins waiting.