Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
The maze - or is it maize?
The word maze is said to have originated in the 13th century when elaborate
living jigsaw puzzles were developed as an elaborate plant arrangement
using yew (
Taxus baccata
) to entertain guests at stately homes. When they
reached the centre of the jigsaw the guest was said to be 'amazed' and this is
where the term maze originated.
A maze should not be confused with a labyrinth, they are two totally dif-
ferent things. A maze has a complex of branching routes to give the traveller
a choice of routes whilst a labyrinth is a non-branching route.
Mazes or plant labyrinths have been around a long time. Remains have
been recorded in ancient Egyptian and Greek culture.
The mazes used by farmers to 'amaze' their guests tend to be mainly con-
structed from maize plants, a maize maze. Where the mazes you see at the
stately homes of Europe took years to mature, the farmers' maize is grown in
a season and the next year a new labyrinth can be planned. The farm maze
originated in the USA as an agri-entertainment feature on the farm, and is
especially popular at Halloween. Organizations now exist to help farmers
develop elaborate maize mazes that can be changed yearly to provide the
visitor with a different experience.
Valuable contacts
UK: The Maize Maze Association:
www.maize-maze.com
USA: Corn Mazes America:
www.cornmazesamerica.com
The pumpkin patch
In the USA, think of October and many culinary tourists think of
Halloween and pumpkins. This is one of the few times that many Americans
actually think about visiting a farm. The pumpkin patch is a major tourist
draw in many states. Farms have developed pumpkin activities to include
Pick Your Own pumpkins, Halloween festivals based on the pumpkin,
pumpkin carving, pumpkin recipes and autumn festivals. Pumpkin fes-
tivals on farms in the USA celebrate the harvest season and are now big
business for many farmers.
Competitions are also held to see who can grow the biggest pumpkin
and these events often get major local and national media cover.
Spookley....The Square Pumpkin
Spookley started life in New York State, and was created by children's author
and lyricist Joe Toriano when his young son Nicholas wanted a bedtime
story about pumpkins. Spookley can now be found in farms in Ireland, UK
and across the Americas (
www.spookley.com
)
.
The story of Spookley is that he is the only square pumpkin in the field
and gets bullied because he is different to all the round pumpkins in the
