Bob Ricci was only 9 years old when he started selling corn. In 1982, he opened his first corn stand, selling 13 ears for $1 on the roadside near his family’s dairy farm.
“That’s how Bob’s Corn started,” Ricci said with a laugh. “But back then, it was Bobby’s Corn.”
Today, Bob’s Corn and Pumpkin Farm is an agro-tourism farm based in Snohomish. Each fall, more than a hundred thousand people from across Western Washington flock to the farm to pick pumpkins, wind their way through a corn maze, take photos in the sunflower fields, purchase locally grown produce and learn about the workings of a farm.
“Our whole thing is, this is where family memories grow,” Ricci said. “People ask what our biggest crop is, and I say, ‘People.’ We’re all about having fun.”
A FAMILY LEGACY
Ricci’s family history plays a big part in the origins of Bob’s Corn. His great grandfather homesteaded on nearby land in 1888, and the family has been working and living in the same area for nearly 135 years. In 1969, Ricci’s father bought the farm’s current location, opening a dairy farm.
In 1982, Ricci’s father planted four rows of sweet corn for Ricci to harvest and sell. Ricci opened “Bobby’s Corn” as a roadside stand. He says there are still John Deere technicians in the area who know him as “Bobby” thanks to his humble beginnings.
After graduating from Washington State University, Ricci began to wholesale his corn through Safeway. But in 2001, when Ricci’s father decided to sell the dairy cows, Ricci saw an chance to reach his customers in a different way. That same year, Ricci built his first corn maze on the farm. He said he saw the opportunity to bring people out to the farm, to transition Bob’s Corn and the family farm into an experience-based business, rather than a product-based business.
At the time, Ricci said his dad was skeptical.
“He said, ‘Who is going to pay us to walk through corn? You’re an idiot,’ “ Ricci recalls with a laugh. “I said, ‘Let’s just see what happens.’ But we never imagined it would morph into what it is today.”
Ricci purchased the farm from his father in 2018. Today, he operates the farm with his wife, Sarah; four of their five daughters also participate in the farm’s operations (the eldest daughter is a doctor in San Francisco.)
This year, the farm has about 45 acres of pumpkins for customer U-pick, 20 acres of sweet corn, including the corn maze, 8 acres of sunflowers for photo ops and customer U-pick, and 60 acres of hay. In addition to the crops, the farm offers plenty of opportunities for families to make memories, such as fire pits in the corn mazes that groups can rent, hayrides, apple cannons, a working combine which Ricci retrofitted into a kids’ playground and a country store.
“In our business, we’re all about fun,” Ricci said. “In fact, on my business cards, I’m the Director of Fun.”
During peak season, the farm has about 200 employees, most in customer service roles. Skagit Farmers Supply provides the fertilizer and chemicals for most of the crops on the farm, and sprays the pumpkin fields.
The farm opens to the public in mid-August with its sunflower festival. After about three weeks, the farm transitions to pumpkins and the corn maze for about six to eight weeks, open through Halloween.
Ricci said he likes to try to continue to evolve and do something different each year. A few years ago, they planted sunflowers, starting the sunflower festival. This helps draw a new type of crowd to the farm, mostly young women or couples searching for the perfect Instagram photo, Ricci said. This year, they started to renovate the former dairy barn into an event space, recently hosting their first Daddy/Daughter Dance.
The key to growth for Ricci and his team has been knowing their values and staying in their lane. For instance, Ricci said, he knows he could make a lot of money if the farm put on a haunted corn maze. However, that doesn’t fit with the wholesome family fun image that the farm has cultivated.
“We stay in our lane, we keep it simple, and it works,” he said.
A RISING TIDE RAISES ALL BOATS
Ricci credits a few resources with his ability to be successful year after year, including NAFDMA, an international agro-tourism association. Each year, the team from Bob’s Corn attends the NAFDMA conference, where they talk with other agro-tourism farms and businesses to learn about what they’re doing and get new ideas.
Ricci said that’s where the idea for the sunflower festival came from – he heard about a farm stand that added a few rows of sunflowers and were surprised at how many people stopped to take photos of the flowers. This grew into a sunflower festival that drew new types of people to the farm.
Ricci also credits a contingency of Snohomish pumpkin farmers that work together to ensure they all succeed. He said there are seven pumpkin farms in the county, but they realize there are more than enough customers to go around, so they all help each other out.
“ ‘A rising tide raises all boats’ – that’s us,” Ricci said. “There are so many people in the Seattle area to go around, we all benefit from helping each other. We don’t have to be cutthroat whatsoever.”
Ricci said he’s noticed that farmers in other parts of the country don’t seem to have the same mentality with the competing farms in their areas, but he’s proud of the Snohomish pumpkin farmers for banding together to help one another out.
For example, Ricci doesn’t have a tractor small enough to mow through his sunflowers, so he borrows a Kubota and rototiller from neighboring Thomas Family Farms.
In turn, the team at Thomas Family Farms couldn’t find their sunflower clippers this year, so they borrowed some from Bob’s Corn until they could get some ordered.
Another farm may run out of firewood or need a shade tent, so Ricci will send some over. In the past, Ricci has run out of sweet corn or gourds, so another farm will supply them to help him out.
Ricci said his farm feels flood pressure before the other area farms. In the past, when his pumpkin fields have flooded, other area pumpkin farms will call him.
“My pumpkins will be floating, and I’ll get that call from the other farms saying, ‘Hey, what do you need? We have guys, we have trucks, what can we get you?’ “
Bob’s Corn and Pumpkins will be open to the public through October 31. To learn more, visit www.bobscorn.com.
Brianna Hackler 