Raising Pumpkins

The Koenigs create memories for families at Perryville Pumpkin Farm

Brian and Dianna Koenig prepare to host a class from St. Paul Lutheran School at the Perryville Pumpkin Farm in Perryville.Tyler Graef - tgraef@semissourian.com

For most of us, we only think about pumpkins for a few months each year. But for Brian and Dianna Koenig’s family of Perryville Pumpkin Farm in Perryville, Missouri, planning for the harvest season starts way before the fall. With more than 200 varieties of pumpkins spread across 12 acres, there is a job for each member of the family. Some plant seeds and some pull weeds. Others design and operate the website, while the littlest Koenigs unload small pumpkins and pick up sticks. And while operating the family farm can be laborious, it has given the Koenigs something they can all do together. It is a way to stay connected to each other, as well as to their past.

Brian and Dianna Koenig’s son, Ryan, drives a tractor during a hayride back to the barn past the pumpkin patch (right) at the Perryville Pumpkin Farm in Perryville, Missouri. Tyler Graef - tgraef@semissourian.com

It’s a past that is filled with farming and agricultural heritage. In fact, the Perryville Pumpkin Farm is nestled on the property of Dianna Koenig’s great-great grandfather, Henry Mecker, whose parents purchased the 40-acre farm in 1892. At Henry’s death in 1935, the land was divided between his sons John and Fred. John Mecker’s farm passed to his son Elmer, and then to Elmer’s son Marvin, who was born on the farm and still lives there today with his wife, Eleanor, the parents of Dianna Koenig. The Mecker family farm continues to operate under the direction of Dianna’s husband, Brian, who grows corn, soybeans and wheat on 750 acres in Perry County.

But currently, they are in full pumpkin mode, a tradition that began in 2001, when Brian and Dianna Koenig wanted to expand the farm operation to include their three sons, Tyson, Jarod and Ryan.

Brian Koenig starts a tractor to pull a hay ride at the Perryville Pumpkin Farm in Perryville. Tyler Graef - tgraef@semissourian.com

“We were looking for something to add income, and the boys couldn’t operate tractors yet,” Dianna says.

So they settled on pumpkins, selling them off of pallets and wagons down by the road. The next year, they added a straw maze, and by the third year, the family was loading up the wagons and transporting customers to the pumpkin patch. Other attractions at the farm include mini golf, a wheelbarrow course, pumpkin bowling and a corn pit. Almost everything they make is repurposed from the junkyard or another location on the farm, with different items being added each year.

Over time, the Perryville Pumpkin Farm has grown organically, evolving into a well-known and well-loved local place to make memories with families in their community and beyond. Many customers return year after year to pick their favorite pumpkins and gather under the shade trees. Schools come out for field trips and receive education on agriculture and farm life. And adults that used to visit the pumpkin patch as a child have now started bringing their own kids. The small family farm has become a gathering place for other families to connect.

“Connecting with people is what makes all the hard work worth it,” says Tyson, the oldest Koenig. “We want it to be affordable for families, and we love seeing the familiar faces of people that keep coming back.”

Much of that has to do with the fact that the Koenigs engage with the families and pay attention to what people want. Whether it’s white pumpkins for a wedding, flat pumpkins to stack or a variety of green, orange, bumpy or smooth, the family will help you find it. Farming is about relationships and about being a part of the community. It’s a community they support by allowing local entrepreneurs to sell their homemade crafts and goods on the property, including jams, jerky, sausage, aprons, wreaths and honey.

Knowing how important farm life has been to seven generations of the Koening family, it has become a legacy they hope to one day pass onto their youngest son, Ryan, who is currently enrolled at Rend Lake Community College in Ina, Illinois, studying agriculture production and management.

According to the family, Ryan is the future of the family farm. Ever since he could walk, he’s been out on the land helping his dad, and it’s all he’s ever wanted to do. But they know it will take all of them, each using their own talents and gifts, to keep a farm that is contributing to income.

“Agriculture is different today,” Brian says. “To make a living as a full-time farm, you have to be diversified.’’

And the pumpkin farm helps them do just that. In another hundred years, the Koenigs hope the farm is still around and a useful part of their community. As long as the next generations want to be a part of it, they will keep doing their thing; planting, weeding, harvesting, and of course, growing pumpkins.