From the Cultivating Our Communities Stories series BY KAY SHIPMAN FarmWeek
Starting this spring, Richardson Adventure Farm near Spring Grove is offering visitors an agritourism experience every season. The McHenry County specialty farm will soon open its first tulip festival. Visit them at their website or Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest.
With a mechanical bulb planter from Holland and GPS, the family planted 300,000 bulbs of 30 tulip varieties on 5 acres for a U-pick area and in different designs, including a sunburst and color blocks.
Through mid-May, the farm will be open daily from 11 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. In addition to the tulips, visitors will also find a barn gift shop with fudge, popcorn and other food treats along with a variety of spring gift items. Food trucks, beer, wine and lakefront picnic tables are available with live music performed on the weekends.
“We encourage people to take pictures,” said George Richardson, farm owner and operator along with his wife, Wendy; brother, Robert, and sister-in-law, Carol. Their son, Ryan, makes the sixth generation to work the land.
From a small farm homesteaded in 1836, the operation has grown two farmsteads and 544 acres, with corn and soybeans in addition to specialty crops.
“The buzz (about the tulip festival) has been really good on social media, and there’ve been a number of shares,” Wendy noted.
Admission tickets may be purchased online or at the farm for ages 4 and older. Tickets cost $12 Monday through Friday and $15 Saturday and Sunday.
In late August, the farm will feature another flower and another festival first — sunflowers. Visitors may stroll across 8 to 10 acres of sunflowers that will include walking trails. The gift shop will be open. Details will be available later on the website and Facebook.
In the fall, visitors flock to what the Richardsons describe as “the world’s largest corn maze” and a pumpkin patch. The 28-acre intricate maze opens the weekend after Labor Day and continues through the first weekend in November. Thousands of pumpkins, squash and gourds are available. Visitors may walk into the fields to select their own pumpkin or choose from among those already picked for sale.
Evergreen trees take center stage the day after Thanksgiving when the farm opens for Christmas tree sales. More than 50,000 tree varieties grow across 75 acres. About 90% of the trees are sold as cut-your-own with visitors venturing out to select and cut down their tree, according to George.
For tree hunters, the heated barn gift shop is open with hot beverages, food treats, wreaths, garland, decorations, bows and a variety of holiday gifts.
George explained the farm family’s transition from traditional row crops and livestock into agritourism and specialty crops.
“We started with Christmas trees as a side hobby. We planted 1,000 seedlings when we started. Six years later, we started selling trees,” he said. “After 10 years, we figured we liked it when people came to the farm and had fun, and we liked a steady income stream. We started our agritourism in the late ‘90s.”
