Funny Farms to Visit in Iowa
Two young boys dropped dry goat pellet snacks into a plastic tray attached to a home-built conveyor belt, then slowly cranked the tray upward.
At the end of the conveyor on a narrow platform about 20 feet high perched a happy, hungry, horned goat, patiently waiting for a treat. The boys squealed to see him gobble it up.
A few yards away, other young kids worked the handles of well-worn, old-fashioned iron pumps to transfer water from one stock tank to another.
Elsewhere, children were climbing over huge tractor tires in an enormous sandbox and bouncing on a giant jumping pillow big enough for 20 kids and adults. Nearby were a 1,200-foot zip line, corn box, barrel train, hayrack rides, tire mountain, silo slide, corn mazes and leg-powered pedal cart races.
There's more here at Bloomsbury Farm, about 2 miles straight north of Atkins and about a 40-minute drive from Iowa City. There's a lunch shed, learning barn, straw jump, Western town with saddles thrown over saw horses, gemstone mining and, at the right time of year, pig races and a pumpkin cannon.
It's an impressive 30-acre layout of low-tech farm fun for your kids or grandkids — and adults. What you won't find here are many electronic screens.
"It's non-electronic and no-tech," says Karen Petersen, the key founder of this place. "I think we've got one TV screen in the wine-tasting room to watch the Hawkeye games."
"It's a lot of hands-on, interactive stuff," she adds. "You can pet a llama or jump into bales where you can feel and smell the straw."
Karen and her husband Dave know a bit about family farms and feel a strong connection to educating the public about agriculture. The current Petersen farm has been in Dave's family for more than 160 years.
Karen opened a greenhouse and landscaping business on this site in 1995, calling it Bloomsbury Farm after a town in a Peter Pan book she often read to her children. Two years later, her daughter's second-grade teacher suggested the class might enjoy a hayrack ride at the farm — and the seed for an "agritourism" business took root.
When a tornado wiped out the greenhouse and landscaping business in 2004, Karen and Dave expanded the farm's scope into a more extensive attraction, open for several weeks each fall and for special events public and private during other times of the year.
Those special public events include things like "Cuisine in the Corn" in which 200 diners are transported by hayrack to one long, elegantly-appointed table in the middle of a standing green corn field for a unique candlelight dining experience. Proceeds from this are shared with the Four Oaks non-profit group of Cedar Rapids which benefits children at risk.
Other events include an upcoming "Monsters and Merlot" Halloween dinner and "Wine with the Witch" ladies' night out. A popular "Scream Acres" production with a cast of 75 working four haunted attractions is held on site every Friday and Saturday night in October.
The farm will be open to the public every day from Sept. 16 through Oct. 31 this fall for its annual Fall Festival. Visit www.bloomsburyfarm.com for hours and various admission rates.
Is this an under-the-radar attraction?
"Maybe," says Petersen. "We're growing in popularity, but we still have people show up who have never heard of us."
My wife heard of it through social media. We were amazed to travel to what appeared to be an "out in the boonies" location and find such an extensive, people-packed event when the farm held its Arts Festival last month with some 50 vendors.
And when we saw the climbing goats, we lamented that we did not have grandkids along.
We won't make that mistake again.
If you go
What: Bloomsbury Farm
Where: 3260 69th St., Atkins
Hours:Sept. 16-Oct. 31, 9 a.m.-6 p.m. Monday-Saturday, 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Sunday
Cost: $8.50 (plus tax) Monday-Friday, $12 (plus tax) on Saturday and Sunday. Ages 3 and younger are free, and there is a $2 senior and military discount.
Details: bloomsburyfarm.com, 319-446-7667
Dick Hakes is a semiretired newspaper editor who lives in North Liberty.
Source: https://www.press-citizen.com/story/life/2017/09/01/bloomsbury-farm-iowa-low-tech-old-fashioned-fun/625242001/
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