The color of the leaves is changing. Stores are selling autumn-scented candles. Families rush to Home Goods for the latest seasonal decor. Cafes are making pumpkin spice lattes. Let it be known that fall has officially arrived, and the pumpkin patches are ready.

For decades, the farms of the Snoqualmie Valley have embraced what agritourism can bring to their businesses and communities. Many have set aside careers in dairy farming and accepted the pumpkin patch and corn maze lifestyle. Some of the smaller quaint farms continue to produce crops while also inviting guests to their u-pick pumpkin patches and old-timey barns.

Each farm has something unique to offer. Each one is special in its own right. The best part about having multiple farms in the area is that you don’t have to go to just one.

Muddy Boots Farm – Duvall

After its time as a dairy farm came to a close, Muddy Boots has been embracing agritourism since 2016 when the Roetcisoender family decided to try their hand at pumpkins. Now, nine years later, Muddy Boots offers pumpkins, sunflowers, a 10-acre corn maze, fire pits and apple cannons.

“It’s just my happy place,” Kerrie Roetcisoender said. “What is unique about Muddy Boots is that there’s something magical about it that sucks people in, season after season.”

One can get a pumpkin anywhere, but not everyone has a themed corn maze with 10 different scarecrow scenes scattered through. Instead of the goal being finding the way out of the maze, looking for the scarecrow scenes turns it into a scavenger hunt.

For the past few years, the scarecrows have been inspired by “The Wizard of Oz,” each year focusing on one part of the tale. One year, according to Roetcisoender, the farm made a tornado entirely out of corn. This year, the corn maze will focus on Dorothy entering the Emerald City of Oz. While tickets to enter the corn maze are required, entrance into the farm is completely free.

“People can come and sit by a fire and not spend a dime,” Roetcisoender said.

Muddy Boots will be open to the public from Sept. 27 to Oct. 31.

Jubilee Farm is at 229 W. Snoqualmie River Road NE, Carnation. Photos by Perris Larson/For the Valley Record

Jubilee Farm – Carnation

For those looking for fewer festivities and attractions, Jubilee Farm offers an authentic farm experience for locals and visitors. Jubilee also has a history of being a dairy farm, with the barn from 1957 still standing. In 2019, David and Kristin Haakenson purchased the farm from David’s parents, who had been caring for the farm since 1989.

Mostly a vegetable farm with a pumpkin patch, agritourism isn’t the farm’s main focus — the farm features three community supported agriculture (CSA) seasons. But Jubilee will have over a couple of thousand visitors throughout October.

“People keep coming,” Haakenson said. “Like the salmon, they just come back to the same pumpkin patch.”

Jubilee allows families to get their hands dirty by picking pumpkins, apples and sunflowers for themselves. According to the Haakensons, Jubilee might not have the entertainment value like other farms, but their small-farm vibe is what makes them just as appealing.

Jubilee has free admission and parking. The only thing that visitors have to pay for is the pumpkins and produce they end up picking. September Harvest Weekend kicked off Jubilee’s fall season on Sept. 27. The farm will be open to the public during the entire month of October.

Steel Wheel Farm is at 3701 324th Ave. SE, Fall City. Photos by Perris Larson/For the Valley Record

Steel Wheel Farm – Fall City

The Lichttenegger family has been farming Steel Wheel for 12 years, bringing locally grown products to the community. With 20 acres, Steel Wheel provides a u-pick pumpkin patch with over 10 types of pumpkins, a corn maze, a pop-up market stand, and some little piglets and lambs for the kids to enjoy.

“It’s really quaint. We are a real working farm, and I feel like our customers really enjoy that feeling,” owner David Lichttenegger said.

Also a part of CSA, Steel Wheel has a common goal with the other farms in the area: bringing as many people out to the Snoqualmie Valley as possible. The farms are not competitive with each other, and many of the owners have known each other for decades.

“We’re trying to get everyone to come out, to enjoy the countryside, enjoy what the farmers are growing,” Lichttenegger said.

Steel Wheel Farms will be open Thursday through Sunday in October.

Novelty Hill Farm is at 26617 NE 124th St., Duvall. Photos by Perris Larson/For the Valley Record

Novelty Hill Farm – Duvall

Novelty Hill Farms and the Pickering family have been serving the community since 1884. Novelty Hill offers 70 dog-friendly acres of pumpkin patches, bee hives, corn mazes, fire pit rentals and farm critters. The iconic draw and symbol of the farm however, is the old barn, which was built in 1932.

Stephanie Pickering and Suzanne Siko have lived on the farm their entire lives, growing up playing in the hayloft that is now rented out for weddings. Their parents, Janetta and Larry Pickering, still live and work on the farm today. The barn was built by their grandfather and great-grandfather. Novelty Hill has been a part of their family long before the sisters were born. For them, the farm is just as much a part of the family as they are.

According to Stephanie and Suzanne, the farms are all friends with each other. They have even gone to high school with the people at Muddy Boots. The farms work together whenever they can to show visitors what makes the valley special.

“We just want to promote the Snoqualmie Valley. The nice thing about pumpkin patches is that you can go to more than one,” Stephanie Pickering said.

Novelty Hill Farms will be open from Sept. 27 to Oct. 26.