The Final Year for the Shawver Family’s Possum Patch Farms

Last year for Possum Patch Farms.

If you live in Richland County or close enough to make a day trip to Possum Patch Farms in Olney, you need to put the Shawver Family’s pumpkin patch on your calendar this year. They open on September 17 and will close for good on October 30th after seven years. Colby Shawver, who works here at AM Transport explained, “Our kids are getting busier, starting to play sports and have more activities, and the pumpkin patch is a lot of work. They’re young for such a short time, and we don’t want to miss anything.”

It’s a bittersweet closing for the team here at AM Transport. The Shawvers have hosted our annual Halloween party, and everyone here has spent numerous Saturdays and Sundays enjoying the good food and family activities at Possum Patch Farms.

How did it all begin? “We were just going to grow pumpkins and have a roadside stand where we sold them along with mums, but that idea almost immediately turned into the big production we have now,” Colby explained. And it’s grown to include more activities, more food, and more fun with each passing year.

What can you expect when you visit this year?

The Possum Patch Store

This year the store, which opened 7 years ago selling mums, pumpkins, antiques, and grandma’s baked goods, will be selling a whopping 92 different jams, jellies, salsas, and sauces. In addition to the sauces you’ll find rock suckers and giant jawbreaker suckers that will take a month to finish. And because it’s the last year, the family has invested in keepsake items for their fans with coffee mugs, cork guns, shirts, and hats. And the kids section is better than ever with stuffed animals, gem mining hats with the Possum Patch Farms logo, pop guns, and a bunch of little games. Of course, you can also purchase pumpkins of all sizes, colors, and shapes and beautiful fall mums.

Activities 

This year there are enough activities to keep you and your kids busy all day. 

• Paintball and gem mining, two activities that were new last year will be back this fall. I took my grandkids last year, and we had so much fun with the gem mining. I was surprised by how many cool things we found and how much fun it was to sift the sand and rocks while searching.
• The corn maze is not for the faint of heart. Make sure you’re ready for an adventure.
• The playground area with swings and the fish pond is always a big hit and a nice outdoor area where parents can watch little ones run around.
• The arena is chock-full of fun with a giant corn pit (it’s surprisingly fun to play with all that corn), a big hay slide, the hippity hop corral with bouncy animals for toddlers, the giddy-up and gallop swing, teeter totters, and a petting zoo.
• Face painting and pumpkin painting. 
• But that’s not all, there’s a giant bounce pillow, a hayride, a kids’ barrel train, and a scooter race track.
• Animals. And if you’re an animal lover, you’re in luck. The Shawvers have goats, guinea pigs (have you ever heard one whistle?), Boom Boom –the miniature Zebu cow, Willy Nelson–the miniature horse, Suzy Q–the porcupine, Sea Biscuit-the donkey, Mike-the camel, two mules, two huge Maine Coon cats, Whippets, and a buffalo because everyone needs to have a buffalo, right!

Food

I have to admit, one of my favorite activities at Possum Patch Farms is eating, and boy is that menu looking great. Colby is a great cook–I can attest to that because he grills for the office on the regular and it’s always mouth watering–so you don’t want to miss out on the menu at the pumpkin patch. This year that menu will include:

• Pulled pork sandwiches and tacos
• Pulled pork tater tots (this might be my favorite)
• Possum dogs (a 1/4lb hot dog with pulled pork and cheese)
• Pork burgers
• Hot dogs
• Fish tacos
• Potatoes on a stick
• Fried pickles
• Egg roll nachos (also amazing)
• Chicken and noodles
• Chili
• Funnel Cakes
• Fried Oreos
• Fried apples with homemade caramel sauce
• Fried peanut butter and jelly
• Pretzels and cheese
• Lemonade shake-ups
• Ice cream and Floats

If you go more than once, you can try a few things at a time. If you only go once, you’ll want to try everything (and might end up with a stomach ache) because the food is outstanding.

Hours

Possum Patch Farms is located at 6734 East Cleaver Lane in Olney, Illinois and opens for its final season this Saturday, September 17 at 11:00. Their hours until October 30 (the last day) are Saturday 11-6 and Sunday 12-5. Do yourself a favor and make the trip to Possum Patch Farms this September or October, you won’t regret it.