About George Richardson
Farm Variety
Three families own and operate Richardson Farm. The fifth and sixth generations of Richardsons – brothers Robert and George, and George’s son Ryan – are on this farm, which dates back to 1836! We grow about 200 acres of corn and 200 acres of soybeans, but we also have a cut-your-own Christmas tree farm and the world’s largest corn maze! My job has a lot of variety. It changes with the seasons, and I do different things on different days, weeks and months.
We plant corn, plow the fields, plant Christmas trees, trim trees, and get the corn maze and picnic area ready in the spring and summer. In the fall, we harvest the crops and talk with thousands of customers who come to enjoy our maze. In November, we make wreaths and decorations and open the Christmas tree business. Then, in December, we sell the trees.
From Pigs to Trees
Richardson Farm was originally a pig farm. Starting in 1981, the Richardson family has planted a variety of tree species (i.e., white pine, concolor fir, blue spruce, Douglas and Fraser fir trees) that visitors put on display in their homes for the holidays. We have around 100,000 Christmas trees growing on our homestead farm and an adjacent 52 acres we bought in 1990.
There was a learning curve with our first attempt to plant the trees. The Christmas trees fell victim to weeds which killed many of the arbors. Through some state and national association meetings and self-education, we learned how to control the weeds and care for the trees properly. Now we plant more than 10,000 trees each year. Two generations of our family work together on the farm, while the third generation (11 grandchildren) also lends a helping hand on tree planting responsibilities. Shortly after getting our Christmas tree business off the ground, we opened the Adventure Farm where community members can enjoy local fun, pumpkins, activities and our corn maze.
