Pumpkins just the start for the Downing Daughters

This time of year sends a lot of families on the hunt for their own great pumpkin.

Part of that tradition also includes the growers working year-round cultivating the perfect jack o’lanterns.

For five years, the Downing daughters have done a lot of growing.

Co-owner of Downing Daughter’s Pumpkin Patch Kendra Downing said, “When we started, we had a lot smaller pumpkin patch. We have about tripled our acres.” 

And there’s plenty to choose from.

Co-owner of Downing Daughter’s Pumpkin Patch Emily Downing said, “We grew about five dozen different varieties.”

All those pumpkins, squash and gourds starting as a challenge for sisters 13-year-old Kendra Downing and 11-year-old Emily Downing from their parents.

Emily said, “Our father suggested that we should start either a pumpkin patch or a tree farm.”

They’re the fourth generation to work the ground on this family farm in Cambridge. 
The goal was to help teach them life skills and a work ethic, but it’s grown more than their mom and dad ever expected.

Mother Crista Downing said, “When we started, they were in kindergarten and third grades.”
Father Zane Downing said, “Look back at the photos, they were smaller than the pumpkins they were lifting.”

The Downing Daughters’ Pumpkin Patch has come to become a family affair and not just for the Downings but their neighbors and friends.
It’s all to host the best experience possible.

Kendra said, “Families can come here and just connect and have fun together.”

But it’s not just the patch that leaves customers searching.

Kendra said, “This is another fender. Those are the tires.”

A maze cut through the corn has become a tradition that the girls design and build.

Kendra said, “Trace the tractor onto a map of the field and then use the fence posts as a grid pattern.”

This is also where the sisters said they wanted to bring in their faith because as customers try to make their way through the tractor, it’s serving as a fundraiser for Compassion International and a Biblical scavenger hunt. 

Kendra said, “Hold onto our faith, and it really helps us through hard times and also when things are going well.”

And of course, after months of tending the patch, the goal is to clean off the vines.

Emily said, “We also hope that they buy pumpkins, so we don’t have a lot left over.”

So far, the sisters have raised more than $240 for Compassion International.

The pumpkin patch is open Friday from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. and Saturday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

The corn maze is also open on Halloween.