For years, Benton Moseley dreamt of having a pumpkin patch of his own, to recreate one like he grew up on as a child. Only weeks before his dream was to become reality, he had a farm accident that put it all at risk. However, with the help of family and friends, he is now in the midst of his first pumpkin season on his own farm in Gluckstadt, Moseley Meadows.
Moseley grew up in a farming family where he saw the different sides of agriculture – the good and the bad. As a child, he learned farming was another form of gambling because you put all of your eggs in one basket and hope the weather cooperates for a good crop. To help guarantee a good year, Moseley’s dad, Ben, turned to Christmas trees as another form of revenue. He created Santa’s Choice, a Christmas tree farm in Rankin County, and used pumpkins as advertisements for his Christmas trees.
“My dad only did field trips for pumpkins, but every kid who left with a pumpkin from the farm had a Santa’s Choice flier on the pumpkin, which was his advertisement for his Christmas tree farm,” Moseley said.
Eventually, Moseley’s great grandmother decided to sell the family farm changing a lot of life events for the family. However, the dream of reopening the farm Moseley loved so much stuck around.
“It was a great childhood. It was sort of like a hallmark movie except there was a whole lot more work. The movies don’t show the work. It turned into an idle, steady dream.”
In 2020, Moseley rented a piece of land in Brandon for a pumpkin patch on. “I tried for years and years and finally I found a landowner that allowed me to do it,” Moseley said. “Christmas trees take such a commitment and time. You put a lot of money and years into Christmas trees before you ever can turn any money around. The pumpkins were going to be my better avenue to take. Unfortunately, it was short lived. I don’t think he was happy with the amount of people on his place and decided not to renew my lease after two years.”
While this was going on, Moseley did something else he had put off for a long time. He got married. He found Kate, who encouraged him to chase his dreams. “Kate wanted to see how true it really was – if this farm lifestyle was really what I made it out to be, and now I think she has her questions,” Moseley laughed.
When his lease wasn’t renewed, Moseley began to ask if they were at the end of the road, if it was what he was meant to do, and if the rebirth of the farm was short-lived. But soon after that pumpkin season ended, a piece of land was listed one night in Madison County, and the Moseleys went to look at it the next morning and made an offer.
“We thought it would be perfect for our pumpkin patch,” Moseley said. “We hit the ground running. I can’t say the pumpkin patch for the year is 100 percent what I want it to be, but I am very, very thankful for where it is. Twelve weeks ago this past Sunday, I was in a farm accident and the progress kind of halted from the speed it was going.”
Moseley and his wife were building the petting zoo when he fell and broke his neck, back and collarbone, punctured his lung and caused a brain bleed.
“The progress slowed down, and that is when I really got out of my comfort zone,” Moseley said. “I had to ask for help.”
Raised in the farming lifestyle, Moseley was used to doing everything on his own and had the mentality of ‘if you can’t do it on your own, you don’t really have any business doing it’.
“I realized, if we are going to make this work, we have to ask for help,” Moseley said. “Sure enough, we had some wonderful groups of volunteers from different churches and organizations come to help. I was new to the community and, even though it wasn’t but 25 miles, I just felt like an outsider. But when I could finally get around a little bit and I met the strangers that were volunteering, it really opened my eyes and made me very thankful for the area I am in.”
The pumpkin patch doesn’t have quite everything Moseley was planning on doing this year, however, he is grateful for what was able to be accomplished.
“If the community supports me this year and can see my vision, which I think it is very clear that they can, then I promise to make it bigger and better every year,” Moseley said. “I promise to make it an area they look forward to coming to and spending time and making memories with their children and families every year.”
Moseley’s pumpkin patch off of Yandell Road in Gluckstadt had its opening weekend on October 1 and it was very successful.
“It was comparable to the past opening weekends with a lot of new faces and several returning faces that I was glad to see and catch up with,” Moseley said. “I had a lot of positive reviews, which made me feel great and it was really what I needed to hear.”
Moseley said his pumpkin patch is an all-inclusive deal and all the activities are included once admission is paid. First, he has a train ride for the kids, several farm games, a variety of inflatables, and “the shining star of the year,” the corn pit.
“The corn pit has over 5,000 pounds of corn in it, and the kids are just loving it,” Moseley said. “Another thing that makes me smile talking about it is we built a super slide this year. We have a slide that they ride in a burlap sack on, and they really, really enjoy it. The big slide is 55 feet and the smaller slide is 20 foot. The smaller slide is for the younger kids where they don’t have to go as fast, but I cannot say the big slide is just for kids because I think the line is half adults too.”
After the slide, visitors can go to the petting zoo and check out the concession stand.
“I don’t like doing just concession food, and I actually try to make a mark on the food,” Moseley said. “I want the food to be something that people come back for. We have some really good menu items, including pulled pork nachos and great hamburgers that my friends and family cook. We also have a gift shop with local pies and honeys and jams and jellies and t-shirts.”
After visitors have played on the farm for long enough, they can go on the hayride, which takes them to the main attraction: the pumpkins.
Moseley Meadows is open from 9-5 on Saturdays and 12-5 on Sundays through October 30th. During the week, they host field trips, which Moseley was able to completely book up for the month. Moseley said he and his wife do this for the kids.
“My wife and I don’t have kids, and we do this for the kids,” Moseley said. “There is something neat about seeing kids have fun, and we both walk around with a pocket full of suckers in case we catch a kid whose older brother or someone is being ugly to them and not playing with them, so we make sure we can give them a sucker and cheer them up. It is neat to see an outdoor experience for the families to make memories. That is what I remember from growing up on the Christmas tree farm, and I wanted to recreate that.”
Seeing happy families is the best part about the farm to Moseley.
“To know that someone is going to come out here and make memories is the best part,” Moseley said. “There just isn’t a better feeling in the world for my wife and I than to hear kids say ‘This is the best day ever.’ It just makes me get chills when I hear that.”
When people visit the farm this year, Moseley said they will notice he left a few fields empty for Christmas trees.
“I’m just feeling it out right now because I want to make sure I put the Christmas trees in the right spot to be the star of the show,” Moseley said.
Along with pumpkins and Christmas trees, Moseley is also dreaming up other ways to help people enjoy time out on the farm.
“I really have some cool ideas planned for the spring,” Moseley said. “A lot of it focuses on children because that is our comfort zone, but I also would like to try a few adult events. I think the farm will open some doors to different events in the future. I want to be an outdoor Agritainment venue that people get to come and hang out. Unfortunately, that is something that has fallen away – outdoors activities and kids being on the farm and seeing where a lot of their stuff comes from.”
Moseley said he can’t sugarcoat it this year – it wouldn’t have been possible without friends and family – new and old.
“I am more appreciative than I could ever, ever let them know,” Moseley said. “After my accident, it has really made me aware of how much the community comes together and how loved we are by friends and family.”
