WillyTee’s Pumpkin Patch Is Primed for Visitors

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Bill Teitzel had always grown a few pumpkins here and there on his family’s century-old farm on Jackson Highway. It wasn’t until he visited his first pumpkin patch 23 years ago down on Sauvie Island, Oregon, the largest island on the Columbia River, 20 miles northwest of Portland, that he came up with the idea of starting his own.

“I always thought that was pretty cool,” Teitzel said. “It was a neat experience. I had never been to a pumpkin patch before.” 

Tietzel already had most of what he needed: old farm buildings, plenty of open land, tractors and all the farming equipment. 

So he went home and planted less than a quarter-acre of pumpkins the following spring. He didn’t really know what he was doing and it ended up being even tougher than he imagined. A person can’t just let the pumpkins rot out there and let the seeds grow up next year, he said. New seeds have to be planted every year and the soil needs to be adjusted with added nutrients. He also began networking with other pumpkin patch growers to learn the tricks of the trade.

“You find out what to watch for and pretty soon you start learning,” Teitzel said. “I still learn things.”

That first year he sold every single pumpkin. So the next year he doubled his output and sold them all again. He did that for the next three years, doubling the amount and selling them all.

Teitzel has now been selling pumpkins for 22 years. His children are the sixth generation to be involved with the farm. He’s got about all he can handle currently with just him working the pumpkin patch. He’s currently got about 2 ½ acres of pumpkins.

“It’s more of a hobby for me,” Teitzel said. “It’s a lot of hard work, but I enjoy doing it. This is how I blow off steam and keep on going.”

The process starts around February when he begins ordering his supplies for the year. Then he begins prepping the soil with fertilizer. Next, Teitzel begins plowing things up and starts planting seeds around the middle of May. He always plants more than he plans to have because of birds and moles that will eat the pumpkins. He figures about 80 percent of what he plants will make it through to customers.

He’s not sure exactly how many visitors come to his farm each fall to pick pumpkins. His operation isn’t large, especially compared to some of the patches in the Olympia area. A busy day on the patch has about 10-15 folks walking around at one time.

But Teitzel never wanted to be a big-volume patch with people standing in line. It’s more about people visiting the farm, walking around the pumpkin patch and enjoying the atmosphere. WillyTee’s doesn’t have a bunch of bells and whistles that it nickels-and-dimes customers for, and with the COVID-19 pandemic it’s cutting back even more. The petting zoo and feeding the farm animals will not be available this year due to agritourism restrictions.

“With all the things that COVID has shut down or changed, people are hoping that this is kind of the one thing that isn’t going to get changed on them too much,” Teitzel said. “I think people are looking for some kind of normality and keeping their traditions alive. So I’m glad to be able to do it.”

The farm does sell handmade crafts that the family creates and Teitzel offers free caricature drawings with a little booth set up with a video feed so people can watch themselves being drawn in real-time. The drawings are free and have become a yearly ritual with locals, he said. One family came by last year and showed him a laminated portfolio with 10 or 12 years worth of drawings of their children.

“That was kind of a special thing for me because that’s cool,” Teitzel said. “It makes me feel good that people appreciate that and keep coming back.”

WillyTee’s first day open this year was on Friday, Oct. 2, and will be open from 10 a.m. to dark every week on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays.

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Reporter Eric Trent can be reached at etrent@chronline.com. Visit chronline.com/business for more coverage of local businesses.