An airplane passes over Pumpkins Etc. Although the business is in a rural area, it is only a short distance from Kansas City International Airport.
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Carrie McCracken, 3, throws a kitten onto a pile of kittens that she gathered with her brother. Pumpkins Etc. is known for its kittens, receiving new donations of them every autumn.
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Bill Wright, 70, arranges pumpkins on his family’s pumpkin farm in Platte County, Mo. According to his wife Kathy, Bill originally thought that pick-your-own pumpkins was “the dumbest idea ever.”
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Kathy Wright, 68, throws away spoiled squash, in attempt to keep the barn clean. “We’re a soft touch,” said Kathy. “It’s no wonder we don’t make any money.”
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Kathy Wright walks her granddaughter Carrie McCracken to Pumpkins Etc.’s portable toilet. Although the business, which is housed in a former farrowing barn, now has electricity, they do not have running water.
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Will McCracken, 10, counts corn stalks on his grandparent’s farm. Will's mother, Jane, founded the business with her siblings, operating on weekends, as they all were in elementary school.
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Andrew Reil, 10, plays with a kitten at Pumpkins Etc.
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Bill Wright bundles corn stalks on his farm in Platte County, Mo. Although the corn patch belongs to his grandsons in name, Bill has done the majority of work.
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Bill Wright rests after a day that included an early delivery to Kansas City, Mo. in addition to his usual work at the farm. “We enjoy it,” said Bill. “At our age, if we didn’t enjoy it, we’d just quit.”
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Children play tag on top of Pumpkins Etc.’s hay bale maze. “We tell people that they can come play,” said Kathy Wright. “They don’t have to buy anything.”
The Kids’ Farm
For 30 years Pumpkins Etc. has provided the people of Platte County with much more than autumn decorations. The farm is a place to spend time with friends and family, commune with nature, and play with the kittens that are a fixture of the farm. The Wright children founded the business in 1984, but their parents, Kathy and Bill, took over operation about 15 years ago. Kittens, first brought to the farm to control the rodent population, have become as important to the farm as the pumpkins, with many customers citing them as the farm’s main attraction.
This project was completed as part of the 66th Missouri Photo Workshop. Click here to view the project on the workshop’s site.
