Archive for August, 2009

Aug. 27, 2009

Kajsa’s bull calf wandered over to the fence to check me out. I pulled out the camera and took several shots while he craned his neck to sniff my scent in the air.

And in the next second bull Scout was in my view finder. Not in a menacing way, but just to be sure his little charge was not in any kind of danger.

Buffalo bull Scout has grown this summer, gaining weight and bulking up in his head and shoulders. While bull Chief has done most of the breeding, Scout has been in charge of protecting the buffalo herd. Both bulls seem to be taking their jobs seriously and have fit in well with head cow Esther and the herd.

Huge Pumpkins

Cool weather moved in after a thunderstorm chased away our heat Tuesday night. And it made the weeds in the pumpkin patch easy to pull yesterday evening. But these continuous rains keeps the weeds spouting and growing too.

Visitors ask about the pumpkins growing along the driveway because the giant varieties are huge already because of the great growing conditions. We’ll have several pumpkins over 200 lbs. when we start the official season in one month.

Aug. 20, 2009

Smoky Hill Bison gate sign

Even though we’ve done the maze and pumpkin patch for years, it’s a lot of work getting it all together.

The planting and tending of the crops is the easy part…and I’d much rather be out pulling weeds than calling for the porta potty delivery, getting fall employees lined up, and unpacking all the fall merchandise in the gift shop.

One of the best outcomes of a deadline is to get some big projects done. We finally got a new sign up by the front gate with our new logo. It’s been on the list since, oh, Memorial weekend, but now it was time to get it up before the fall season starts.

Another deadline was our comercial for the fall season. It will play on Fox Kansas TV, and the Salina movie theater starting Sept. 11th. It’s a fast, colorful 30-second commercial that gives lots of information.

I posted it on YouTube yesterday for “social marketing”. Please pass it on to get it around. We need all the publicity we can get for this quick six-week season, which we’ve been working on for months.

Does it look fun? If you’re in Kansas- please drive in and experience it this fall.

August 14, 2009

Smoky Hill Bison's 2009 Maze

Here it is! You’ve asked what the maze design is for this year, so now that we have the maze cut and the aerial photo done, its now posted on the website.
 
This year’s theme is “Celebrating ten years of Buffalo on the Bison Farm.” I thought of this idea last year and it was a perfect way to end our herd’s anniversary year.
 
If you live in Kansas, or just driving through from Sept. 26th through Nov. 1st, plan to visit the Bison Farm and enjoy the maze and all the fun activities.
 
Our maze slogan is:
 
The Best, the Coolest, the Most Fun, the Most Awesome Maze and Pumpkin Patch in central Kansas!
 
And we’d love for you to be a part of it this fall!

August 6, 2009

Seems like the weather automatically changes on August 1st. Evening approaches sooner, and the sun takes its time waking up.
 
Temperatures can be into the high extremes during the day but wane before nightfall. Some flowers are starting to fade and others are just getting up to speed.
 
Take my roses, boy- are they pretty right now, and I hope they continue looking good during the maze season.
 
The new flowers beds on either side of the maze entrance is packed with zinnias and cone flowers. I plan to add mums to add color for the fall season. Will the flowers look good through the season, or will an early frost finish them off? It’s hard to plan with Mother Nature.
 
Crop Exhibit
 
Our crop exhibits are filling in nicely. We plant crops (this year soybeans, sunflowers and milo plots) that grow in Kansas to show kids what the plants look like, with signage of their use. 
 
Pictured is milo, which will grow a seed head, and is used for cattle and pig feed. And the end consumer product they can relate to is sausage on their pizza, cow leather on their baseball, etc. It’s a real eye opener for them to see how farmers’ crops are used in their everyday lives.
 
 Fall Gift Shop 

August is also the time for shopping. Families are buying school supplies, but I’m buying fall and Halloween merchandise for our maze season. We’re pouring over catalogs and looking online for new fall merchandise to order.
 
Basically I’m looking for the fun impulse items that the kids will want and the parents say okay on! If you any ideas on neat fall items, or fun concession food, please let me know.