Pinehaven Farm is welcoming visitors for their Fall Family Festival

If you're looking for some fall fun for the family, especially with MEA weekend, we have found a farm north of the metro that has something for just about everyone. Lauren Andrago, Farm Girl at Heart. She is live at the Pine Haven Farm in Wyoming, Minnesota, dressed appropriately because it's a little chilly out there, isn't it? It is, Tom, but I will say it's gone up about 10 degrees since we got here. I bought this hat in the gift shop. I was unprepared. I do this about once a year. Now I wish I had sunglasses and I can see people taking off the layers. I see a gentleman right here wearing shorts. So a little bit of everything here at Pine Haven Farm celebrating 30 years of fall fun. A lot of great things, 30 years old this year. Here's one of the attractions you get as soon as you walk in, the Petting Zoo. Lots of families enjoying it. Here, the owners refer to Pine Haven as a hidden gem. But here on a Friday morning, it is already packed. There's loads of photo ops. I love this Platinum Pumpkin, larger than life. We have a corn pit, we have a giant slide, we have zip lines, and we have Jeremy, third generation co-owner here at the farm. Is this a typical Friday fall? It feels so busy here. This is a typical Friday. The people of Minnesota come out of the woodwork when it's fall and it feels like fall, and this is going to be a perfect weekend to come out and enjoy the weather on the farm. You said MEA, typically your busiest weekend of the year when it comes to fall fun. Absolutely, absolutely the busiest weekend. Make sure you buy your tickets online because some of those time slots do sell out. We can see a couple of the highlights right here. The zip lines look like so much fun. I saw one of those bouncy pumpkins back there. Give us some of the highlights, some of the things people really love here. Yeah, absolutely. The jumping pillow, the animals, the corn pit, the ride out to the pumpkin patch, the giant slide, the apple cannons, the pumpkin cannon. And on the weekends, we shoot the candy cannon at 4 o'clock. Oh, the candy cannon. The candy cannon. Is that like a pinata situation? Everyone gets candy? Yes, exactly, but out of a cannon. Wow. Well, if that doesn't sell it, I don't know what will. You say that this place is perfect for people who want the trick and the treat. Absolutely. So we do have a couple different events that happen on the farm. We have the dare-and-hayride that happens at night, and that's the scary side of the farm. And then at the same time as the dare-and-hayride, we have the Great Pumpkin Trail for all those people who love Halloween and want to do a nighttime illuminated pumpkin walk, but they don't want to get scared. The Great Pumpkin Trail is for you. Oh man, so fun. So really something for everyone. I see kids of all ages here today. The drive up to Chisago County was absolutely spectacular. The leaves are looking beautiful. And this property, which is gigantic, you said 160 acres? 160 acres, yes. Wow. It has been in your family since about 1950. Tell me how it all got started. So grandma and grandpa bought a piece of farmland and didn't know what to do with it. So they started planting trees, kind of fell into the Christmas tree business. And then 30 years ago, we transitioned from Christmas to Halloween, started planting pumpkins and it's grown ever since. Wow. That's so spectacular. And you said you guys kind of add every year. So something new, even if people have visited before. Absolutely. Either new food, new attractions or expanded attractions, I love it. What's your favorite part of this job? so favorite part of the job is watching the little kids face light up when they get excited about the corn pit or the jumping pillows or the giant slide, it just it's it's something about those little kids getting so excited um for their fun day here that uh that just fuels me and keeps me going oh so awesome i should also say Great for a date night, too. You guys have so many food trucks. KViet, my favorite egg rolls in America, are here. You have a beer garden. You said you're going to have some live music, too. Live music for the Pumpkin Patch. So that's during the day on Saturdays and Sundays. Oh, excellent. So what do people need to know before they arrive? Do you have any, like, insider secrets? Is there a good time to go to beat the crowds? So if you're coming at night, pick a time slot that's early, right? Because you can get in and get out quickly. Otherwise, if you're coming from a long ways away, make sure you buy those tickets online. Those key time slots do sell out, so we really have to have people buy those tickets online. You were telling us earlier some numbers of how much you guys have grown. You have thousands and thousands of people coming every season. Yeah, absolutely. It's turned definitely into a destination and a tradition for a lot of Minnesota families. And it's just been incredible to see the outpouring of support from Minnesotans that just keep coming back and making this their tradition. Oh, love it. Well, Minnesotans love to support families just like yours. Jeremy, thank you so much. Congratulations on your success and good luck on what is certainly going to be a busy weekend. Very busy weekend. It is looking beautiful out here. So, Tom, if you want to come visit again, this is Wyoming, Minnesota, Pine Haven Farm in Chisago County. Get to Forest Lake and keep going north on 35. It was about 45 minutes away from our station in Eden Prairie, but I will say worth the drive you can spend an entire day out here it's a it's a beehive of activity there's no doubt looks great all right well thanks for showing us around Lauren and we appreciate the report so much we'll see you on monday thank you