Negangard Pumpkin Patch: 200 Varieties, Zero Fuss
By Leslie Cooperband, farmer & storyteller
Just outside Sidney, the Negangard family keeps fall simple, affordable, and deeply local—growing hundreds of pumpkin and gourd varieties the old-fashioned way, with plenty of stories along the rows.
Farm History
Mitch Negangard represents the fifth generation of his family’s farm near Sidney. The family’s roots in America trace back to the Civil War era, when the original Negangard ancestor emigrated from northern Germany, fought for the Union Army in Ohio, gained citizenship, and settled there after the war.
In the next generation, Mitch’s great-grandfather moved to Indiana and made seasonal trips to Illinois to help with fall crop harvests. On one of those trips, he met his future wife, Effie Logan. Together, they moved onto what is now the Negangard family farm just outside Sidney. Mitch’s grandfather was born on the farm in the 1930s, grew up there, married, and raised five boys.
In the 1970s, the family began diversifying into pumpkins, squash, and melons, and they became especially well-known for their large muskmelons. Their hilly land along Yankee Ridge—one of the highest points in Champaign County—had good drainage, proving to be a perfect match for pumpkins and other cucurbits.
By the late 1980s and early ’90s, Mitch’s dad and uncle turned that pumpkin-growing know-how into The Negangard Pumpkin Patch, originally as a college fund for the kids. Mitch and his brother took a shine to pumpkin production right alongside the adults, and benefited from that pumpkin-patch college fund, too. Mitch used his to attend St. Ambrose University in Davenport, Iowa, where he played football, studied business, and took leadership classes.
Today, the farm continues to grow grain crops and rotates their pumpkin patch each year to help manage weeds and pests. Their pumpkin-selling season is a focused six weeks—late September through October. Pumpkins are harvested daily and laid out on the lawn in front of the farmhouse, where visitors can browse, compare shapes and colors, and select their favorites.
The Heart Behind Harvest Season
Mitch has been growing and selling pumpkins since he could walk, and what he loves most are the traditions—and the way they tie generations together. The pumpkin patch is a true family affair, with parents, siblings, uncles, aunts, and cousins pitching in each fall. Harvest weekends feel like a family party—especially when Mitch’s uncle fires up the grill and turns the work into a celebration.
Mitch also gets a kick out of seeing customers return year after year, often bringing the next generation along. Kids who once posed next to pumpkins are now showing up with kids of their own—ready to start a new set of fall memories.
The Negangards' Niche
If you ask Mitch about the farm, he’ll fondly recount stories about his grandpa, who loved farm animals and loved entertaining visitors. The farm has long had a mix of animals like cattle, goats, pigs, and chickens, plus there’s a nearby pheasant farm. One of Mitch’s favorite tales: his grandfather used to buy a few pheasants and show guests how he could “hypnotize” them into staring at a line on the ground. Whether it was true hypnosis, or just grandpa magic, we’ll never know.
Visitors ask lots of practical pumpkin questions—how they grow, why some are white, why others are bumpy—and Mitch genuinely enjoys teaching. School kids, he says, ask the best questions because they’re curious about the real nuts and bolts of pumpkin production. It gives him a chance to introduce people to the incredible diversity of the cucurbit family (Cucurbitaceae)—pumpkins, squash, and gourds—comparing it to the variety you see in apples or even dog breeds.
What really sets Negangard Pumpkin Patch apart, though, is its authentic simplicity. There are no corn mazes, no hay rides, and no big “agri-entertainment” layer. They don’t charge admission. It’s just a no-frills, come-as-you-are pumpkin-picking experience—rows to wander, wagons to pull, and kids determined to lift pumpkins nearly their own size. They do keep a few animal pens with chickens and goats, because honestly, who can resist a quick goat-petting break?
Then there’s the selection: the family grows 175–200 varieties of pumpkins, squash, and gourds every year. Negangard pumpkins are a bit of a well-loved secret: along with quality, they’re known for affordability. In fact, longstanding, loyal customers will tell you their pumpkins are one of the best values around.
Future Plans
The family feels like they’ve found a sweet spot and doesn’t plan major changes. Down the road, they may explore options like a u-pick berry patch or adding a few crops to sell outside the fall season. But overall, it’s “steady as she goes,” protecting what makes the pumpkin patch special and carrying it forward into the next generation.
Year after year, the Negangards keep it simple, keep it local, and keep welcoming families back to the rows. It’s proof that you don’t need bells and whistles to create a fall tradition people treasure—you just need great pumpkins, good people, and a place that feels like it’s always been there (because, well, it has).
CU on the Farm!
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