edible notables
MIND GAME
From simple to complicated, local farmers offer fun corn mazes.
WRITTEN BY DORESA BANNING
IMAGE COURTESY OF LATTIN FARMS
In the fall, corn plants take center stage at some local farms in the form of entertaining, scene-depicting mazes.
This year, Lattin Farms in Fallon will offer its 15th maze, which will celebrate Nevada’s dairy industry. Spanning nearly three acres, this year’s maze will feature a German cow and the “Got Milk?” slogan. Past designs at Lattin Farms have included an ichthyosaur, a magic kingdom, and produce. The Lattins’ 2010 Know Your Farmer, Know Your Food maze actually was featured on the White House blog.
“The great thing about a maze is it’s an artistic adventure,” says Rick Lattin, who co-owns Lattin Farms with his wife, B.Ann.
Corley Ranch in Gardnerville will showcase its ninth annual maze, which this year will stretch over 2.43 acres and portray a map of Nevada, including major highways and towns. Previous mazes at Corley were crop circles, a wagon wheel, and aliens.
Maze Creation
For the Lattins, the first step in the process is dreaming up a concept and sketching the design. This takes place between October and January. Using the idea as well as a sketch and field dimensions, graphic designers at The MAiZE Inc., a Utah-based cornfield maze consulting/design company, draw the maze picture using standard design software. Once approved, they apply a grid and add the paths, transforming it into a maze. Like a dot-to-dot puzzle, the grid indicates where to cut out the corn to form the trails.
Typically in May the Lattins plant the maze’s corn in two directions to make a grid. With bamboo, they stake 15-square-foot squares throughout. Using the grid design from The MAiZE, they spray paint the areas to be cut and, finally, clear those, first by hoe then rototiller.
Corley Ranch’s owners take a slightly different approach. Jon Corley, co-owner with his wife, Paula, creates their maze, from concept to cutting, entirely himself. Using his expertise as a former agricultural engineer who built dams and bridges, he sketches the design, builds a scale model, and then applies it to the corn.
“It’s kind of an experiment every year,” Paula says. “When it turns out, we’re so very happy.”
In Spanish Springs, the Andelin Family Farm will debut its first corn maze, one acre in size, during its fall festivities. Being that it’s owners Natalie and Cameron Andelin’s first such effort, they’ll map and rototill paths but won’t create a picture in the corn.
“We’re going to see how it goes,” Natalie says.
Doresa Banning is a Reno-based freelance writer and editor who loves puzzles.
Resources
Lattin Farms
Maze open Sept. 3 to Oct. 31
1955 McLean Road, Fallon
775-867-3750, Mail@lattifarms.com
www.Lattinfarms.com
Corley Ranch
Maze open Oct. 1 to 31
859 U.S. Highway 395 N., Gardnerville
775-721-1047, Corleyranch@hotmail.com
www.Corleyranch.com
Andelin Family Farm
Maze open Oct. 1 to 31
8100 Pyramid Highway, Sparks
775-530-8032, Andelinfamilyfarm@gmail.com
www.Andelinfamilyfarm.blogspot.com
OTHER LOCAL FARMS WITH PUMPKIN PATCHES
Ferrari Farms
4701 Mill St., Reno
775-856-4962, Ferrarifarms@gmail.com
Wemple’s Pumpkin Patch
450-525 Wemple Lane, Milford, Calif.
530-253-2514, www.Facebook.com/pages/Wemples-Pumpkin-Patch/96529612638
