MEQUON, Wisc. — Apple picking, pumpkin patches, and corn mazes; all the delights of fall, especially as the weather gets cooler.
But, with heavy wind and rain expected in the next few days, some businesses are already thinking ahead.
“The weekends, generally, are definitely our busiest, as long as the weather is nice. With the rain coming up, though, we do expect it to be significantly slower,” said Sue Knudsen, Owner of Barthel Fruit Farm.
Sue Knudsen is the owner of Barthel Fruit Farm in Mequon.
The family-owned business has been around for more than 100 years, with Sue and her husband taking over in 2019.
Open from Labor Day through Thanksgiving, this isn’t their first time dealing with bad weather and the changes it can bring.
“It really depends on how hard it's raining. If it's really hard raining, I'd say it reduces our business by about 75%, for the flow. If it's just a light drizzle, probably about 50%. But yeah, it does slow down significantly,” said Knudsen.
That slowing down pushes Sue and her team to find other solutions, instead of shutting down.
“That generally just means that we have to go harvest more and sell it inside the barn. And then that will just prolong how long we're open,” said Knudsen.
Still, Sue says the plan is to keep the farm open this weekend, rain or shine.
“If you want to throw on a poncho and some mud boots, you're more than welcome to go out there and enjoy that. It's generally pretty quiet, so a lot of people will still actually go out and pick and just be prepared to be a little muddy in the pumpkin patch,” said Knudsen.
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