By Jennifer Rigg

Features editor

or one month out of the year, a pumpkin patch located in rural Greenup turns into a world of fun.

From Sept. 28 through Oct. 28, Sheila and Terry Holsapple transform their pumpkin farm into an integrated system of fun houses, mazes, pumpkin patches, hay rides and train rides. The farm is open on Fridays from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m., Saturdays from noon to 10 p.m. and on Sundays from noon to 8 p.m.

Sixteen years ago, the Earthborne Pumpkin Farm was born. Terry Holsapple wanted to own and operate his own pick-your-own pumpkin farm. The original farm only covered only a half an acre, Sheila said.

That farm turned into a pumpkin patch that now covers 15 acres and brings in approximately 1,500 people on any given weekend.

The first year they only sold one type of pumpkin. Today they plant and harvest many different types of pumpkins that vary in size, color, shape and stem, along with numerous kinds of edible and ornamental squash and gourds, she said.

The pumpkin farm started growing rapidly after the first year because of a stunt Terry’s mother played on cars that used to pass by to just look at the pumpkins.

One late night, she hid in a near-by ditch. She put a white sheet over her body and waited for a car to creep by. When the first car drove by, she jumped out of the ditch and pretended to be a ghost. From that moment on, a rumor began circulating amongst the people of Greenup that the pumpkin patch was haunted.

That rumor brought people out to the pumpkin patch with hopes to catch a glimpse of the ghost, Sheila said.

“I didn’t dispel the rumor,” she said. “As long as it brought people out here, I didn’t care.”

Terry and Sheila plant the pumpkins, squash and gourds in June so they are fully matured in the month of October. The newest addition to the pumpkin patch family is a type of pumpkin that has a very large, healthy stem, Sheila said.

“Everybody wants a pumpkin that has a big, healthy, round stem,” she said.

The couple and the pumpkin patch’s 20 employees use an eight-row crop planter, similar but smaller to the planter used by farmers to plant corn and beans. Unlike corn and beans, however, the pumpkins are planted in every other row so they have plenty of room to grow, Sheila said.

There’s much more to the Earthborne pumpkin farm than just pumpkins, though.

Every year around Labor Day, work begins on a maze made completely out of straw bails.

“People call it probably the biggest straw maze around,” Sheila said. “But, that’s probably because we’re the only one around.”

The couple started building the maze the second year they were in the pumpkin business. It is made out of four-foot by eight-foot hay bales and is open during the regular season hours. The maze is dismantled and rebuilt every year, Sheila said.

The couple’s second venture was to turn an old chickenhouse into a fun house filled with another maze made out of wood. In the other rooms of the funhouse there are strobe lights, bubble machines and a 1957 Chevy that visitors must crawl through to get to the other rooms of the barn. The couple also took the back off an old refrigerator and turned it into a door. Visitors have to climb through the refrigerator to get to the other side of the wall.

“The funhouses are really fun because nobody grabs at you or tries to scare you,” Sheila said. “It’s not bloody or gory. It’s just fun stuff that messes with your head a little bit.”

Speaking of messing with heads, the couple also built what they call a “Tunnel of Doom.” The “Tunnel of Doom” is made out of a 20-foot by eight-foot cylinder. Visitors walk on a platform through the cylinder. Once inside, the cylinder starts moving around the visitor. A black light is used to reflect a starfield on the walls of the cylinder. The total experience makes the visitor feel weightless.

“People sometimes fall to their knees because they think they’re actually moving,” Sheila said. “It’s all in the head, though.”

Sheila and Terry also used the same cylinders to make what they like to call “Rat Racers.”

“The `Rat Racers’ are kind of like human gerbil wheels,” Sheila said.

The experience of being inside a “Rat Racer” is similar to the experience of being inside of a tire while it is rolling, which is a popular pastime for kids that grow up on farms, Sheila said.

Another feature of Earthborne Farm is its 18-hole miniature golf course.

“The first six holes are located in the haymouth (or loft) of the barn,” Sheila said. “You have to slide down a slide to get outside to the next 12 holes.”

The pumpkin patch also offers hayrides every 20 minutes during the season hours.

They also created a train that features water and feed troughs for seats and is pulled by a four-wheeler.

During the week, Terry and Sheila offer school tours for elementary students.

Sheila said her husband absolutely loves having the pumpkin farm.

“He enjoys it a lot,” she said. “He enjoys everything about it, and he enjoys having a good time with the children.”

Since the birth of Earthborne Farm, the couple has met many other people in the business and attended numerous conventions.

“It’s like an industry all in itself,” Sheila said. “In fact, Halloween is the second largest retail holiday of the year.”

Earthborne Farm closes its doors to visitors on the last Sunday in October.

Then Terry and Sheila go back to their day jobs and Earthborne Farm turns back into a regular farm. Terry is a United States postal carrier, and Sheila is a registered nurse.

Sheila said they plan to continue to keep the pumpkin farm going for years to come.

“We do this because we just don’t know when to quit.”