Andrea Simek met me at Simek’s Farm on a quiet day in June, way before the hustle and bustle of the fall season at this popular corn maze and pumpkin patch. We walked the fields where the corn maze will be this fall, designed and plotted by hand by this family, then carefully planted with no help from GPS. Each year the corn maze highlights a theme—farm animals, crops, pollinators—with ten education stations throughout the maze to teach about the year’s topic. This year it’s No Prob Llama. Thousands of families walk this maze on fall weekends from mid-September through late October.
The graphic design for this year’s “No Prob Llama” corn maze
Andrea’s husband’s grandparents ran a dairy farm here and, over the years, the family has decided to diversify their farm and keep it going for future generations. Diversification is an important path to sustaining a family farm on the Range. The Simeks realized it early on. And today, the fifth generation of Czechoslovakian immigrants still farms these acres within the Sax-Zim bog. Now they also offer a fall harvest extravaganza for the public. Forty dedicated acres showcase the enormous corn maze, a huge playground complete with bucking barrels, a petting zoo, and games. The café and country store are open and concerts fill the air with music on Saturdays. On Sundays, it’s all open in addition to “Cowboy Church” in the afternoon.
The Simeks also offer field trips on Wednesdays and Fridays providing farming education for grades K-2 from local schools. A classroom above the café/country store welcomes children for a lesson about healthy eating and where food comes from, a hayride, time at the petting zoo and games in the play yard. You can also rent the upstairs of the barn for parties. Email contactus@simeksfarm.com for more information. What a fun and educational venue for a fall party or gathering!
The classroom/party room above the gift shop/cafe at Simek’s Farm
The country store/gift shop features jams and pickles from the farm as well as locally made art and find hand-made items. The café features homemade chili, street tacos, sandwiches, pulled pork or chicken sandwiches, pulled pork nachos, pumpkin bars, and homemade pies and cheesecakes. The Simeks hold a seasonal permanent food stand license from the Minnesota Department of Health for the café. The farm also grows an enormous variety of squash as well as broccoli, cauliflower and kale and other fall produce all grown right on the farm and for sale at the country store along with pumpkins, of course and gourds! About 1,200 folks per day visit the farm.
This year, Simek’s Farm will be open September 17 through October 23, 10-5 Saturdays and Sundays. The farm is also open for MEA weekend October 20-21. If you plan to visit, check www.simeksfarm.com for tickets as well as the concert schedule. Tickets are $6 per person age 2+ for entry. Once inside, pony rides are $6 and hayrides are $2. And there’s “cornzilla,” for $1 per shot—it’s an air-powered launcher that shoots corn cobs toward a target. You win a pumpkin if you hit the target. The corn cops splat when they hit, and then wild turkeys come to eat the corn. You may also see sandhill cranes and eagles around the farm—after all, it is right in the Sax-Zim bog.
So how does a family where the two main breadwinners work off-farm manage this annual undertaking? With lots of family and friends to help, Andrea tells me. This whole area around Kelsey is full of Simeks. It was with the help of family and community that they built the barn and country store. Like many farming families their family also diversified in the trades, and everyone pitched in. This is a family where plumbers, electricians, carpenters, mechanics, welders, graphic designers and farmers all helped make this dream a reality. They started in 2012 and the first open season was in 2013.
Simek’s Farm in 1924, as part of an Arrowhead Grown billboard launched in 2022
Bring the whole family for a fall farm experience and take home some jams, pickles, and of course pumpkins! The Simeks are waiting to welcome you.