Shawn Callaway, co-owner of Brookshire Farms off Los Osos Valley Road in San Luis Obispo, says the mild weather has been really good for pumpkins this year. They're growing faster than they were three months ago and the quality has also improved.
But the farm is also facing growing costs.
“The outlook is a little bit nerve-racking right now," Callaway said.
This year, Brookshire Farms had to increase prices by 4% due to insurance, wages and other costs.
They also spent close to $3,000 covering their crops in order to prevent them from rotting during recent storms.
“We’re all trying to figure out how the economy is being affected both on the entertainment side versus buying pumpkins side," Callaway said.
While pumpkins have been keeping Callaway and his team busy, they’ve also spent hundreds of hours on another part of the farm, working to construct a 4.5-acre Sesame Street-themed corn maze.
Brookshire is part of the Maze Company Association and was selected as one of 35 farms in the United States to host a Sesame Street design.
The process begins in July with the planting of over 200,000 corn seeds.
“I helped in the off-season with irrigating the corn maze and checking for leaks, making sure that everything is growing as evenly as we could get it growing. Corn is kinda tricky to grow around here,” said Brookshire employee Loryn Bedell
This year, because of the weather, the corn maze is about two weeks behind on its growth.
After the fall season is over, Brookshire donates the corn to Cal Poly. Students learn how to harvest it and eventually process it for their dairy unit.
“We do this a lot for the community. This is not a huge profit margin for us. It’s a lot of work," Callaway said.
Brookshire Farms has over 75 different kinds of pumpkins for sale, with prices starting at $1. The farm will remain open through October 31.
