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Underwood Farms Pumpkin Patch- Accessibility

Writer's picture: Annie KrollAnnie Kroll
Tractor on top of pumpkins

A few weekends ago, I went to the Underwood Farms pumpkin patch event with some friends. The Underwood Farms pumpkin patch event had food trucks, carnival games for children, a corn maze, pick your own vegetables, gift shops, and a petting zoo. I mainly did the vegetable picking, corn maze, gift shops, and food trucks. Each ticket cost $28 and all carnival games, food trucks, petting animal pens and pick your own produce costs extra. This week, I want to rate the accessibility of the event.

 

Pumpkin Patch- Pumpkins And Souvenirs

Red and orange flower

 There were two gift shops, one sold pumpkins and other produce from the farm, and one souvenir shop with halloween goodies. Both were accessible, under tents with lots of room. The Halloween store even sold walking sticks made from real wood. I believe I have a walking stick from that brand made from bamboo that I take on hikes. A wheelchair could fit and easily access the store. Overall, this part was very accessible.

 

Food trucks

Selfie of Annie in a tractor

The food trucks were lined up in a row, with a seating area lined by benches. The seating area was under a tent. The food truck area was accessible, however some of the line were long so if you had a hard time standing in one spot you might have needed to sit down. The main issue came with seating, as seating was all benches where the seats were attached to the table. If you were in a wheelchair, you would need to hope that an end spot was open. There was not enough seating for the crowd, so finding a seat took time. I would have liked to see inclusion in the planning for how people would spend time together.

 

Corn maze

Annie with a sign with a scarecrow on it

The corn maze had wide entrances so wheelchairs could fit. Signs were placed at the dead ends to let you know if you needed to turn around. Posters told a story about a boy and corn as you wound through the maze. It was pretty easy, friendly for kids, and the maze could accommodate mobility aids. The only problem was that to get to the maze, you could either walk or have a tractor drive you. The walk was far, but I am not sure how a wheelchair would fit in the tractor because it had the same bench problem as the tables at the seated area. While the corn maze was accessible, getting to it could pose a challenge.

 

Pick Your Own Produce

Annie and her partner in a field

This is where our story of accessibility ends. The pick your own produce walkways were extremely narrow. I frequently felt like I was losing my footing. I understand that this is a farm, but it's a farm for families to come and pick produce. Underwood Farms is known for their produce picking and petting zoos, so its a bummer that the walkways are so narrow. A wheelchair can go anywhere a tractor can go, but I would say 90% of the farm walkways are not accessible to anyone who either uses a wheelchair, cane, or might have a hard time keeping balance. Due to the fact that this farm is more of a family tourist attraction, I wish disabled kids who come out with their families could do more than just watch other people pick fruits and vegetables. I had fun getting green beans, but I was ready to be done afterwards from all the hunching. The good news is it wasn't too expensive, one container cost me under $2.

 

Parking/Bathrooms

Pink Flower

The parking was a slight disaster. Disability spots in the front ran out right away. I was sent to the farthest parking lot, only to find out that a parking lot closer to the entrances had disability spots. I had my placard visible and out of around 20 parking attendants, no one helped me. I asked for help once and didn't get it, so I didn't ask again because I assumed there were no more spots. I was upset about the lack of notice for the disability spots. The other lack of accessibility was with the bathrooms. The only option was to use a porta potty. If for any reason you either can't stand, need assistance in the restroom, have a port that you need to clean, etc. you cannot use the bathroom while you are at this pumpkin patch. I did not see any other bathroom options. This is a problem because how can we expect disabled people to stay at events if they can't even use the bathroom for 3+ hours. I was shocked at this, most of the time I think of one wheelchair accessible stall as the bare minimum. The parking and bathroom were my two most glaring issues in terms of inaccessibility.

 

Overall

Sunflower with bee

I give Underwood Farms a 3 out of 5 in terms of accessibility. While mobility aids could navigate large open spaces that farms provide, many of the features of the event did not cater to accessibility unless you were supposed to buy something. For example, the pig races had bleachers for seats, the tractors could not easily fit a wheelchair or stroller, and the actual fields are not very accessible. Bonus points go towards selling canes and having wheelchair and scooter accessibility notices on the website. Points are taken away for inaccessible bathrooms and mismanaged parking. I had a lot of fun, but the things I enjoyed the most would not been accessible to me when I was a wheelchair user.

 

Thank you for reading about the accessibility of Underwood Farms. If you have any questions or comments, feel free to message me in the questions tab, or reach out at @Anniekrollblog on Instagram or Facebook. I hope to see you next week!


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