Scenes...

…from yesterday’s visit to Sweetfields Farm, where we were greeted by sunflowers:

And Parker was impressed by the pumpkins:

The main attraction, however, was this maze that has been cut into the farm’s cornfield. You enter on the southeastern edge of the field, where you are handed a piece of paper with questions on it, and after successfully navigating through the maze you exit on the southwestern edge close to where you started. Along the way you encounter six numbered signposts:

The numbers on the signs direct you to corresponding questions on the piece of paper. How you answer each question dictates whether you turn right or left at the sign, and of course, one of those directions leads inevitably to a dead end. Even if you turn the “right” direction, however, you will encounter numerous forks before reaching the next sign, and of course choosing the wrong fork will also lead to a dead end…so if you step into the maze, be aware that you might be there for a while:

Sweetfields is located in Hernando County and serves the community well. A true family farm, it is owned and operated by Ted and Lisa Kessel, who have two young children. They started the farm in 2008 with the goal of selling fresh produce directly to their customers, who either pick it themselves right from the plants or purchase it already picked. The Kessels’ philosophy and operation tends heavily on the organic side, and their crops run the gamut of fruits and vegetables, all the way from blackberries to watermelons and snap peas to zucchini.

With the corn maze open to the public and hundreds upon hundreds of visitors coming out to enjoy it, Sweetfields had the atmosphere of a festival on Sunday. The smell of kettlecorn wafted through the air while kids had their faces painted and petted a pregnant cow named Rosie. Pig races were staged and a tractor pulled people on hay rides across the property. The Kessels showed their contentment to local business by having a stand where Strong Tower Winery, a local vintner, offered up its wine both by the bottle and by the glass.

Sweetfields and its maze are open to the public on Saturdays and Sundays through November 4th, from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. with last admission at 4:00. Entry is $8.50 for ages twelve and up, $4.50 for ages three to eleven. A visit to this place just north of Masaryktown and east of U.S. 41 is a fine way to spend the day:

In closing, here is Sarah and her fake-looking grin after she finished fashioning straw into a miniature scarecrow: