Opening weekend is coming up from September 26-27

By Robert Williams

Editor

C&J Anderson Family Farms, home of Anderson’s Pumpkin Place, is worth the trip for a seasonal and pleasant visit to an eclectic farmstead. Add in the year-round work put in by Jane Anderson and the farm turns into a festive Halloween landscape, which includes Jane’s She Shed that moonlights as a gift shop full of a wide variety of October-themed merchandise.

“It’s my happy place,” she said.

Naturally, the gourds, squash and pumpkins are the stars of the show and they are the product of an entirely hand-planted half-acre patch.

“I put the big ones up front so I can watch them because I get so excited when they get big,” Anderson said.

Jane’s parents, Thomas Oliver “Ollie” Wosika and Joan Mary (Stenger) Wosika bought the 260-acre original farm upon arriving in the area. Jane was born in St. Paul and moved to the farm when she was 11-years-old, when her father took a transfer to work at Northwestern Bell in Detroit Lakes.

Jane and her husband Curt took over the farm after her dad’s passing in 2005. Joan is in her mid-80’s and is their next door neighbor.

“She’s got a little garden that keeps her busy,” Jane said.

Curt and Jane lotted off excess land to create what is now the current form of C&J Anderson Family Farms.

The pasture beyond the pumpkins is flowing alfalfa, with a cow pen in the background and a deer plot backdropped by a line of trees. With a more than century old barn and silo and a variety of outbuildings, the area in the middle will soon be transformed into a Halloween holidayscape.

Jane’s love for Halloween is very noticeable.

“Two women got out of the car and they just stood there, then said, ‘this is like a Hallmark movie.’ That was the best compliment anybody has ever given me,” Anderson said.

Jane got into growing pumpkins in 2013 and continued until 2020 in what she calls her “learning years.”

“I had to start somewhere,” she said.

One lesson came from the farm’s cows, who were fed pumpkins during the early years.

“How we actually started knowing how it all worked—I had fed some pumpkins to the cows and we had a pile of manure out there, so we put a fence around it one summer and the pumpkins were huge. Hmmm, we’re on to something here. Cow manure. So then, when I finally retired my husband was like, ‘I’ll give you half an acre out there,’ well, we’ve got to dump lots of manure on it because you know what happened out in that pasture.” 

Her cultivating success grew in size each year until another lesson appeared in 2020 when a sprayed residual wiped out her entire crop. 

“It’s a good reminder not to spray so much stuff,” she said. 

The next fall, Jane transformed her half-acre hobby into Anderson’s Pumpkin Place. 

“I’ll spray a little bit in between the rows, but when it comes to right around the plants it all has to be hand-weeded,” she said. “I can spend a lot of time and if you want them to be successful you have to spend some time out here. I can’t let the weeds take the water from the plants. It’s back-breaking; it’s a lot of work; I love it; don’t get me wrong, I love it, love it, but…”

That sentence trailed off into talk about not knowing how much longer she’ll be able to keep the pumpkin business going and other comments from someone who obviously loves what they do and will probably never stop.

“Halloween is my ultimate favorite holiday; there’s so much joy and you really don’t have to spend a lot of money,” said Anderson.

Jane was also prepared for this summer’s drought conditions. The lack of rain and subsequent consistent sunshine had no ill effects on her crops. The Andersons installed a drip line system for watering.

“They get watered every single day,” she said. “I have multiple big ones this year; I just get so excited when I look at them.”

One thing that sets Anderson’s business apart from other pumpkin growers or sellers is the increased size of the pumpkin does not come with an equally large price tag. Even the biggest pumpkin in her patch is priced under $10. Anderson’s Pumpkin Place is a rare inflation-free zone. Jane has not changed her prices since opening in 2021.

“I am not out to be a gouger; I am out to spread joy,” she laughed. “It refunds my planting next year and all my crafts.”

Part of the reason for the low prices is also to get the pumpkins out of the patch and into customer’s hands. The farm has cows that will eat some, along with a few neighbor’s cows, and deer will help out.

“I don’t want to get stuck with a bunch of pumpkins,” Anderson said. 

The cows are partly to blame for the thousands of cucurbits produced by providing the healthy manure for fertilizer.

The one farm group that gets pinched during harvest are the family’s chickens, who are relegated to their coop until sales are over to avoid them eating up all the merchandise.

Anderson has a variety of squash, gourds and pumpkins, along with a personal garden that includes cucumbers for her pickles and corn, which Jane uses to make holiday-themed decorations like stalk bundles, along with trios of Indian corn. Hanging the corn in a doorway is meant to bring good luck, gratitude and abundance to a home.

“You get to know your customers too,” she said. “I’ve had returning customers every year and I know exactly what they want.”

Pumpkins are actually not the hottest item at Pumpkin Place.

“Buttercup squash is the biggest seller and I run out of it every year,” Anderson said.

Jane’s She Shed is where other big sellers are ready to fly off the shelves, including her farm fresh eggs, homemade vanilla, maple syrup, lotion bars, jams, jellies, pickles and more.

Anderson’s 100 percent vanilla extract is made from Madagascar vanilla beans and top shelf vodka.

“Once you use that you’ll never go back to the vanilla in stores,” she said.

The food items, including pickled vegetables, are quick sellers and there is a limited supply.

“My first couple weekends people come out because they want to decorate; I have to be open by a certain weekend to get those decorators,” she said. “If you’re not out here the first two weekends and you’re looking for canned goods, they’re gone.”

The Anderson Farm is home to all kinds of events during Halloween season.

Pumpkin Place hosts Frazee kindergarten and first grade students annually, funded by the Native American Education program. First graders from Lake Park-Audubon also come out, along with groups from Head Start and Homeschools.

New this year, former Frazee-Vergas School Art Instructor Linda Beilke is bringing her painting group out to paint different aspects and views of the farm.

Anderson had a professional photographer out for a day during the 2025 harvest to take family photos.

“Especially, if you’ve got little ones; it doesn’t get much cuter than that,” she said.

The farm is also open to kids who want to use its many beautiful locations for senior photos.

“It has character out here,” said Anderson.

Last year, Jane also donated 400 pumpkins to The Halloween Boo Bash at the Frazee Event Center.

Anderson’s Pumpkin Place is only open on weekends from 9 a.m. – 6 p.m., beginning Saturday, Sept. 26, and is located at 37420 Wosika Drive, just off State Highway 34 by the Height of Land Town Hall. There are occasional Thursday or Friday hours, like during MEA week. 

“My roads will be marked really well,” Anderson said.

There will be plenty of signs on Highway 34 during that time and you can check Jane’s personal Facebook page for other updates.