A pumpkin patch or U-pick farm site is checked on a phone on the day of the visit. Say whether you are open today, what is ready, what it costs, where to park and what to bring.

What the site is actually for

A farm that opens its fields to the public has a website with one main job: helping a family decide, that morning, whether to get in the car.

Most visits are decided on the day, on a phone, after a look at the weather.

The decision turns on a handful of things: whether you are open, whether there is anything left to pick, what it costs and how muddy it will be.

October is the pumpkin patch's month, with Thanksgiving weekend almost here and Halloween at the end. The same questions arrive again and again, and by phone if the site cannot answer them.

The questions behind every visit

The second is the one farm sites most often leave out. Crops start and finish by the week, and a family that drives an hour for blueberries that ended last week is unlikely to try again next year.

Season dates and daily hours

Give the season as dates rather than months: opening day, closing day, and the days of the week you open.

Then the daily hours, including the time the field closes to new pickers, which is often earlier than the farm store. That last entry time is the figure visitors plan around.

Busy weekends need their own line. Thanksgiving and the weekends before Halloween may bring longer hours, overflow parking or timed entry; announce them a week ahead.

Closures posted that morning

Heavy rain closes fields. Many farms shut the picking area after a downpour to protect the soil and the crop, even when the store stays open.

That decision is made early, by whoever walks the field. The site has to let that person post it from a phone in a minute, with the date and the time.

Say what is closed, not just closed. The pumpkin field might be shut while the store, the corn maze and the wagon rides carry on as normal.

Post it on the website first, then point everything else there: a pinned post on Facebook, and special hours on Google My Business for that day if the whole farm is shut.

What is ready to pick

A crop calendar sets expectations months ahead: strawberries in June, blueberries in midsummer, apples into the autumn, pumpkins until Halloween, or whatever your own fields grow.

During the season, add a short note each week: what is picking well, what is nearly done, and what has finished. Picked over is honest and useful. A photograph from opening day is neither.

For pumpkins, say whether the field still has large ones, and whether pre-picked pumpkins wait by the store once the field thins out late in the month.

Prices, payment and what to bring

Put prices on the page as text: admission if you charge it, the price by the pound or the basket, pumpkins by size, and what children pay.

Say how you take payment. Many farm stands are cash only, and plenty of city visitors carry none.

Then the list nobody writes and everybody needs: boots or old shoes, containers or whether you supply them, layers for the weather, and whether dogs are allowed.

Many farms keep dogs out of the fields for food safety. Visitors deserve to know before the dog is in the car.

A worked example

A family farm in the Fraser Valley grows strawberries, blueberries and pumpkins, and opens each to the public in turn from June to the end of October.

Its website gave the season as June to October, open daily, nine to five. Day-to-day news went on Facebook, when somebody had time.

Last October, heavy rain closed the pumpkin field on a Sunday morning. The Facebook post went up at ten. Cars arrived at a closed gate all day, their drivers having checked the website, which still said open daily.

In August, people kept coming for blueberries after the last bushes were picked out, because nothing on the site said the season had ended.

The farm added a dated note to the top of every page, headed Today at the farm and editable from a phone, and a weekly crop update. Facebook now links to the site instead of replacing it.

Parking and the right gate

Farms often have several entrances: the house driveway, the store lot, a field gate. The address on a map may lead to the wrong one.

Say which gate to use, where to park, and where overflow parking goes on busy weekends. Put the map pin on the public entrance, on the website's map and on your Google My Business listing.

Rural phone signal can be patchy, so give the directions in words as well: the turn after the church, the sign on the fence, the gravel lane.

Paths, strollers and wheelchairs

Fields are uneven, and after rain they are mud. Say what that means for strollers, wheelchairs and anybody unsteady on their feet.

Be specific about what works: a gravel path to the store, a level area where pre-picked pumpkins are displayed, wagon rides with a high step, and where the accessible washroom or portable toilets are.

Honest detail lets people decide for themselves. A line saying the field is hard going with a stroller after rain is more useful than a general welcome to all.

The counter-case

A roadside stand selling only pre-picked produce may need little more than one page with hours, prices and directions.

A large farm with a corn maze, events and timed tickets needs more: online ticketing, capacity limits and event pages. The basics here are where both start.

And a today note only works if somebody updates it every morning of the season. If nobody can promise that, say on the site what closes the farm and how to check by phone.

Whatever the size, answer the day-of questions before anything else on the page.

What to build first

  1. Add a dated today note editable from a phone.
  2. List season dates and last entry times.
  3. Post what is ready every week.
  4. Put prices and payment on the page as text.
  5. Write the what-to-bring list, dogs included.
  6. Describe the paths for strollers and wheelchairs.
  7. Pin the public entrance on every map.

Step three is the one that brings people back next year. A family told honestly that the berries are nearly done plans another trip; one that finds out at the field remembers the drive.

Customers deciding in a hurry on a phone are also the subject of what a garage door company website needs.

Frequently asked questions

What should a farm website show first?

Whether you are open today, what is ready to pick, prices, parking and what to bring. Most visitors check on a phone on the day they come.

How should a farm post weather closures?

On the website first, from a phone, with the date and time and what stays open. Then pin a Facebook post, and set special hours on Google My Business if the whole farm closes.

Why post what is ready each week?

Crops start and finish by the week. A family told honestly that a crop is nearly done can plan another trip instead of driving out for nothing.

What belongs on a what-to-bring list?

Boots or old shoes, containers or whether you supply them, layers for the weather, how you take payment, and whether dogs are allowed in the fields.

How do I describe accessibility on a farm?

Specifically: which paths are gravel, where the level areas are, how high the wagon step is, where the accessible washroom is, and what rain does to the field.

Where should the farm's map pin go?

On the public entrance, not the house or a field gate. Say where to park, and give directions in words for patchy signal.

West Coast Media Solutions Inc. provides web design, web development, hosting, digital marketing, and business consulting to organisations across Canada, drawing on more than twenty-five years in the field.

Farm website still saying open daily?

Send us the address. We will check it on a phone and tell you which day-of questions it leaves unanswered.

Start a Conversation