Pumpkins, corn maze, fall fun open at Moore Family Farm

With the autumnal equinox next Wednesday, this weekend, Sept. 18 and 19, marks the perfect date for the grand opening of Moore Family Farm — a place “Where FUN grows!”

Located across the street from Moore Tree Farm at 575 Auburn Rd., the farmland houses a bounty of fall activities for all ages to enjoy. This season, the farm will be open for six weekends, rain or shine, through Oct. 23 and 24.

Co-owners Carrie and Jason Moore had long thought about opening a place for families to come and spend time with one another, much like many do at Christmas time when people come and cut their trees. And looking around, they soon noticed that there was not a space like this in the immediate area.

“We’ve been married for 11 years, and shortly after we were married, we would visit these other farms,” Carrie explained. “So Jason and I would travel and go see them like, ‘We want to do this someday.’ So, our whole marriage, we’ve talked about it. It’s been ‘when we’re ready, we’ll do it.’”

There is an abundance of activities to keep the fun going at Moore Family Farm, including a u-pick pumpkin patch; the full 5-acre and junior corn mazes; apple cannons; the honeybee express train; wagon rides; a massive pumpkin-shaped jump pad coined the “Jump O’ Lantern”; Moore trike speedway; comically large human billiards and foosball; a straw pyramid; duck races; the Bull Pen; Tug-O-War; a sound wall; tetherball; jump zones; giant yard games; a giant chair and swing; chalkboard pumpkins; various playground-like areas; and many photo opps including the “I’m this Tall this Fall” scarecrow.

As for Moore Tree Farm, after moving to Lansing in 1970, co-owners Kay and Richard Moore planted their first batch of Christmas trees in 1972, cutting and selling the trees wholesale every winter from 1979 until 1987 when they opened for “choose and cut.”

This all happened across the road, while the current land housing Moore Family Farm’s fall attractions was purchased in 1990. Jason and Carrie began selling pumpkins at a roadside stand in 2019, and the land has housed three to four generations of Christmas trees, as Jason explained.

“It’s been fun and to see the land change because, when we built our house in 2011, it was just Christmas trees everywhere. And now, it’s diversified a little bit, and we like that,” he said. “We’ve got an organic farmer who rents a couple fields down below, an organic dairy farmer, and now, it’s a blend of a little of everything.”

There are a wide variety of pumpkins growing this year, including white, pink, Atlantic Giant, bumpy knucklehead and more, all planted by hand by Carrie, Brooks, Ainsley and Jacob. Throughout the farm, you will also find informational panels about pumpkins, honeybees and farming.

“If kids walk away and they’ve had fun and maybe learned something too, success,” Carrie said.

All activities, save for the apple cannon and pumpkin purchase, are included in the admission price, and Carrie recommends that visitors buy their tickets online to both save $3 and ensure admittance, as there is a limited number of visitors allowed in during each timeslot. Timeslots to enter run every 30 minutes, beginning at 10 a.m. with final entry at 4 p.m., and once you are in, you can stay as long as you like until close at 5 p.m.

“It’s an outdoor activity; it’s safe,” Carrie said. “People are looking for outdoor activities to do. Wide-open spaces and this is where fun grows is our slogan. Outdoors, reconnecting with each other.”

As for food, there will be rotating food trucks — Adelina’s Pizza on Sept. 18 and 25 and Oct. 2 and 23; Hatfield Catering on Sept. 19; Fire Dawgs BBQ on Sept. 26 and Oct. 3, 16 and 17; Silo Food Truck Oct. 9 and 10; and Luna Inspired Street Food on Oct. 24 — a permanent snack shack, and Treleaven will be serving wine and beer for purchase on Sept. 25 and Oct. 2, 9, 10, 16, 17 and 23.

This year’s corn maze is first responders themed, and Sept. 25 and 26 and Oct. 2 and 3 are “Local Heroes” weekends, celebrating those who continue to serve Tompkins County.

At this time, masks are not required as it is an outdoor, open-space venue but are always welcome, and rules may be updated depending on local and state recommendations.

Carrie explained what the space means to her and what she hopes it will provide to the Lansing community and larger Finger Lakes region.

“I hope this is a place that families can come, like the same thing it is at Christmas,” she said. “Families have a tradition. As their kids grow up, they wait for them to come home from college so they can come get their tree together. It’s something they can always do together. I don’t want families to outgrow it. I hope we continue to grow and get more attractions and appeal to a very broad range of people so that they can come with babies and they can bring grandparents and have it be multigenerational fun for everybody and just bond.”

Carrie said she hopes to see them open more than just fall and Christmas time in the future, but “we have to see how this goes first.”

If you are just looking to purchase pumpkins and are not looking to have Moore fun, you can visit the pumpkin tent by the entrance. Moore Family Farm can be found online at moorefamilyfun.com. Tickets can be purchased online by clicking the “Buy Tickets” tab on the website’s homepage or by visiting moorefamilyfarm.ticketspice.com/fall-festival.

“There’s so much that we’ve put into this, and sending our three kids back to school, … [I’m] just thinking about creating memories with my family,” Carrie said. “And providing a space where other families can do the same thing, that’s what I want this to be. I want it to be a safe place where people come and they forget about what happened — if they had a bad morning or a bad week or a bad day the day before — and just be together. Enjoy the time that you have with your family and friends. Stay connected, and for this to be a space for people to do that means a lot. That’s what I’m most excited about and most proud of is that I see this being a place where memories can happen.”

In Brief:

Meet the Candidates

Two Meet the Candidates sessions will be held to introduce attendees to candidates Erin Worsell and Hugh Bahar, running for the Lansing Town Board this November. One will be held Sept. 16 at 5 p.m. at Salt Point Brewery, 6 Louise Bement Lane, and the other will be held Oct. 14 at 6 p.m. at Rogues Harbor Inn, 2079 E. Shore Dr.