Farmer Mike’s re-opened to the public Wednesday after being closed for the summer.
Owner Michael Clevenger is a third-generation farmer in Bonita Springs. His grandfather Jim and father Mike started the business more than 25 years ago off Rosemary Drive on a 10-acre field. After being pushed out of that area shortly after, they wound up on a 40-acre field off Morton Avenue.
The farm’s biggest event, the Fall Festival, kicks off Oct. 1 and will be open every Friday night through Sunday of the month with the classic pumpkin patch and hayride along with both a family-friendly and haunted corn maze.
A lot of strategy goes into making the perfect corn maze in Southwest Florida. Clevenger says it’s important that throughout October the corn is still as green as possible to withstand any potential tropical storms.
“I need [the corn] to be young and strong, not old and brittle, because if it’s old and brittle and I get a tropical storm that comes in with 40-50 mile an hour winds, you’re going to come out here the next day and every single stock is going to be broken and laid over,” Clevenger said. “It’s kind of hard to have a corn maze if the corn is not standing upright, so I have to think about things a little bit differently here.”
This year’s 5-acre haunted maze owns the theme of “The Strangest Horrors,” and it’s taken the team at Farmer Mike’s months to plan for possibly the spookiest maze so far.
“We’re refining the process and making sure that when guests come to this event that they have a good smooth, balanced time, that every haunter is up to par and you’re getting scared as much from this guy as you are from that guy,” sales manager Dustin Leeka said.
Clevenger’s goal is to have the corn continue to grow throughout October, so by the end of the maze event the corn will have fully stretched to 13 feet high.
Before the Fall Festival begins, people can visit the U-Pick Stand to purchase vegetables, such as zucchini, yellow squash and cucumbers, harvested by the private fields. Retail agritourism is a main focus of Clevenger’s business this year with an emphasis on widening the array of fruits and vegetables available for public harvest throughout fall and spring, including cantaloupes, watermelon, different types of peppers and additional flowers.
Farmer Mike’s will be open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Wednesday through Sunday until Oct. 1. Starting in October, the farm will be open every day for the first time.
“Typically, in the month of October, the farm is very busy and we’re all busy during the week planting, tending to the crops that are starting to harvest as well as hosting our Fall Festival, but we’ve retained our seasonal employees year-round, which has enabled us the ability to give them a great, fantastic vacation over the summertime,” Clevenger said. “They’re recharged and ready to go.”
