Busy Barns Adventure Farm gears up for opening day

By Kim McDarison

Motorists driving between Fort Atkinson and Cambridge on Highway 12 have likely noticed the colorful hay bales adorning a farm owned by Mary and Gary Telfer. The large, round bales are painted each year to look like pumpkins, farm items, and cartoon characters.

“They have kind of become our signature,” said Mary Telfer. She and her husband, Gary, own Busy Barns Adventure Farm, W7675 US Highway 12, an agriculturally based activities and educational center, operating on 40 acres about three miles west of Fort Atkinson. 

The farm will open for the first of four Sundays, beginning this Sunday, May 2, and on Mother’s Day, May 9, and again on May 16 and 23, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. 

This spring season, the farm will feature educational information about chickens. 

Sheep shearing demonstrations will be held May 2 and 16, at 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. 

Mary said the farm attracts thousands of families who come to learn about farm life, interact with animals, and some folks even get married in the “Gathering Barn,” a rustic, event space designed specifically to accommodate special occasions and weddings. 

From her vantage point aboard a golf cart, looking across an expansive carpet of manicured lawn dotted with outdoor activity stations and barns, Mary said, “Imagine getting married here and you have all this to entertain your guests.” 

While she enjoys all of the farm’s guests, she said, she finds hosting weddings particularly exciting and couples who marry on the farm often return later with their children. 

On Wednesday, Fort Atkinson Online paid a visit to the farm and watched several families give the place a seasonal “test run” in advance of Sunday’s kickoff. 

Aided by staff members, eleven children, ranging in age from 1-year-old Rosalie Wakefield to 15-year-old Ellie Tuten, held kittens, bunnies, goat kids and lambs. They watched ducklings learn to slide into a pool, and offered pets to other animals including a calf, miniature horse, an alpaca, donkeys and a very large “Continental Giant Rabbit” named “Leo.” 

The breed can reach 40 pounds, Mary said. 

After exploring the animal barn, the children gleefully ran between play areas and exhibits, while moms took photographs, enjoyed the grounds and guided the activities. 

Tucked between outdoor activity stations are habitats with other animals, including geese, peafowl, turkeys and pot-bellied pigs. The animals and exhibits work together to create an active and safe pastoral play and learning experience. 

Busy Barns is meant to offer wholesome, farm-style, kid-friendly fun and education, Mary said. 

When developing activities for the farm, she focuses on “anything that would bring you back to your childhood,” she said. 

Many of the play stations are made from items found on a farm. Tires of various sizes are transformed into swings and places to climb. There are several types of slides, made in all heights and styles, found throughout the property and there is even one inside the farm’s “Play Barn.” 

Creativity and imagination infuse all aspects of farm life and agricultural activities. Those ideas often originate with Mary. 

“I get an idea and my husband builds it. How to bring the ideas to life, those are his ideas,” Mary said. 

Even turning round bales into colorful characters is a two-man process: Gary paints the base coats and Mary paints the details. 

Everything on the farm has been built by family members, Mary said. 

Pointing to a round bale painted to look like cartoon character “Tom” of the duo “Tom and Jerry,” Mary said: “I always enjoyed art. When we started, I painted pumpkin bales and people really liked them. They would notice them driving by on Highway 12. I painted the first ones in 2008. Since then, we’ve had Bucky Badger, the Wizard of Oz, trolls, superheroes. People give me suggestions and photos give me ideas. When I look at pictures, I say: ‘Can I make that into something?’”

The family began developing farm-style entertainment before the farm was opened to the public. 

When Mary and Gary’s four children were growing up, Mary said, the family would host Halloween parties. 

“We’d clean out the shed and have all these activities,” she said, adding that each child would have their own party and invite their whole class. Guest lists would often grow to include 150 people.  

A love of the country 

Gary is a native of Fort Atkinson and Mary is a longtime resident. They were high school sweethearts at Fort Atkinson High School, graduating in the 1970s. They married soon after graduation, Mary said, moved to several homes, living in Fort Atkinson, Whitewater and the northern part of the state, before finding the farm on Highway 12. 

“We were 26 when we bought the farm,” Mary said, adding that the family at that time included three children, ages 3, 6, and 8, and a fourth was born a few months later.  

Gary was raised on a dairy farm in Hebron, Mary said. The nearby family farm is run today by his brother. 

Mary was not raised on a farm, but, she said: “I just loved living out in the country.” 

For the family, the farm was a versatile place. They raised crops and beef, and molded the property to accommodate their needs. 

When the family arrived, Mary said, the farm had three outbuildings. Today, the buildings are completely rearranged, with several of the original ones razed and many new ones added. 

The family settled into farm living. The kids raised animals and showed beef and dairy cows while participating in 4-H and FFA. They attended Fort Atkinson schools, graduated, and moved off the family farm. 

Today, Mary and Gary have five grandchildren, Mary said. 

For many years, while raising their family, Mary and Gary worked off the farm. Mary worked for Anheuser-Busch and, after the company was purchased, for Ball, a metal beverage packaging company in Fort Atkinson, for 24 years. She left the job about five years ago to work at Busy Barns Adventure Farm full-time. 

Gary worked as a custodian within the Fort Atkinson School District for nearly 11 years, and then he and one of the couple’s two sons ran a construction company for six years. He, too, now devotes full-time energy to the farm. 

Mums and Pumpkins

Busy Barns Adventure Farm began as an experiment, with a roadside vegetable stand, Mary said, adding: “We put the stuff out to see if people would come.” 

Customers could drive up to the stand, make their selections, and leave their money in a box. 

“Before we tried it out, we thought about it for a while, we just never acted on it,” Mary said.  

In 2008, the family grew 550 mums and planted three acres of pumpkins and gourds. 

“When we had the first weekend, all these people came out,” she said. That year, the family hosted two events: “Mum Field Tour,” which took place over a weekend, and a two-day “Harvest Festival.” 

Having people on the farm brought a sense of enjoyment to the family, Mary said. 

“We just loved the aspect of the education and bringing people to the farm. I meet so many generations of people who are removed from the farm. Educating people about agriculture is important,” Mary said. 

By 2009, the family “jumped into six weekends,” offering mums, pumpkins, corn stalks, and other fall-season items. 

That was also the year Mary and Gary decided to add some activities, including a small petting area with goats, a straw maze and a couple of slides.

Looking at success found in the early stages, Mary said, aside from their enthusiasm, a few things helped: “In some ways the recession helped. People were staying closer to home, so people were more apt to do things nearby.” 

Access to Highway 12 was also a benefit, she said. 

While Mary and Gary remain the only year-round farm employees, today, the farm operates with a seasonal staff of over 30 people. 

“We couldn’t do all this without them,” Mary said. 

Board by board

As word about the farm spread, visitors kept coming, and for Mary and Gary, more ideas took shape. 

In 2008, there was an opportunity to move a 30- by 60-foot barn that was offered by the state Department of Transportation. 

Board by board, Mary said, Gary and one of the couple’s two sons took the barn — which was originally standing on property north of Johnson Creek — down and rebuilt it on the family’s farm. It was opened to the public in 2009 and serves today as the “Play Barn,” an educational building with a small movie theater and other activities. The building also features an indoor 20-foot-long tunnel slide.

More buildings followed. 

In 2010, the family built the “Animal Barn” and the “Little Barn.” Water and electricity were brought to the farm buildings and a unique “silo gazebo” was constructed. Three corn cribs, used to provide habitats for poultry, were also brought onto the farm.

In 2012, the farm opened its “Bee Barn,” which includes a four-frame honeybee observation hive and other educational exhibits. 

In 2013, the family constructed its biggest barn, a 90- by 64-foot “Gathering Barn,” to be used for special occasions. The barn can seat up to 400 people. 

The full adventure experience

Today, visitors to the farm can participate in the full adventure experience. 

Guests pay $12.50 per person for a visit to the farm. There is a cash discount, bringing the ticket to $12 per guest, and children less than a year old are free. 

While on the property, guests are invited to visit, touch and hold a large assortment of animals, participate in 40 indoor and outdoor activities, and enjoy lunch and treats at the concession stand. 

Visitors will find a few costs beyond the ticket price; extra costs apply with activities that include “goody bags” and to purchase small bags of animal feed, and concessions. 

Concessions are homemade, Mary said. This year, apple cider doughnuts will be returning to the menu. 

Other popular menu items include: sirloin beef burgers, all-beef hot dogs, and homemade mac and cheese, Mary said. Lunch at the concession stand costs on average between $5 and $8 per person. 

In keeping with this year’s educational theme, the farm’s movie theater will feature information about chickens. 

During the months of April through November, the farm hosts special events, company picnics and other private functions. 

Along with the spring schedule, the farm is open for six or seven weekends each fall. 

Said Mary: “We truly are blessed to share our passion for agriculture education and love having guests to the farm to explore, play and learn about agriculture. There is nothing more rewarding to us than to see the smiles and inquisitive looks on both children’s and adults’ faces when they get to learn about, touch and hold all the critters here at the farm. If each person that visits goes home and learns just one thing about agriculture, we are thrilled.”   

To learn more about the farm and stay updated with schedules and programming, visit the website: https://www.busybarnsfarm.com.