Kaska Family Farm

Fishing & The Farmer’s Almanac

Toni Kaska — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 00:20:45 +0000

The Farmer’s Almanac is amazingly accurate for lots of things — when to plant, phases of the moon, when to dig a hole (Did you know that if you dig a hole during certain moon phases, that you will not have enough dirt to fill the hole in? Look it up!) Anyway, we were happy to see that fishing was supposed to be "good" right now, early April –and, I guess the Almanac was right again!

Bass

Cecropia moth!

Toni Kaska — Sat, 05 Apr 2008 14:50:34 +0000

We had a bit of excitement this week on the farm! The other evening, about dusk, the kids were playing basketball outside and Kerby found what he thought at first was a bird of some kind — turns out, it was a HUGE moth!! Katie took a picture of it with her cell phone (teenagers are always prepared, aren’t they?) and she was able to look it up — in our 1964 farm copy of Butterflies and Moths - A Guide to the More Common American Species, by Robert T. Mitchell and Herbert S. Zim –

When it flew off, the kids said you could hear it’s wings flutter like a bird! If anyone knows anything about this beautiful creature, send us an email — we’ve never seen one here before.

Notice the size of it compared to a 11 yr old child’s hand!

All About Farm Animals — a new link!

Toni Kaska — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 22:41:23 +0000

We were looking around on the internet this morning to see what’s going on at other farms this spring, and we found this fun, interactive site all the way from Fayette County Public Schools in Lexington, Kentucky; specifically Picadome Elementary School — This is a great site! I’ve never met the teachers who obviously worked very hard to create this rich resource for teachers — but it’s definitely worth a visit.

Click here to see All About Farm Animals — As always, if you know of any cool farm fun sites for teachers, kids and families, please let us know!

Meet our MAiZE friends!

Toni Kaska — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 22:40:31 +0000

We don’t get a chance to visit and give a big Texas THANK YA’LL as often as we should, but we thought the next best thing to do would be to start a little (big?!) list of all the businesses and folks out there who’ve helped us along the way — we sure do thank ya’ll, thanks for being a friend to the Kaska Family Farm Heart of Texas MAiZE!!

We love ya!

Please visit our local West Chamber office; housed in an authentic train depot in the heart of town. West is rich in history; calling McLennan County our home since 1882. You’ll want to visit our antique stores, gift shops and restaurants, spend the night in our hotel! We just about have it all, and we try our best to have something year ’round for your family to enjoy — Chili cookoffs, rodeos, dances, BBQ cookoffs and our annual West Fest held each Labor Day weekend. You’re sure to find some of the best food this side of the Brazos, ropin’ and ridin’, and a little dancin’ — but best of all, truly sincere down home hospitality! Click the Chamber logo to visit their site!

The Dr Pepper Museum located in Waco, Texas — If you are a Dr Pepper fan (who isn’t, right?!) Then you MUST visit the Dr Pepper Museum and Free Interprise Institute. They have an authentic soda fountain, a great gift shop, and of course, you can learn all you ever needed to know about Dr Pepper!

Check out the Kaska’s favorite exhibit — a collection of all the Dr Pepper television commercials — you can have a comfy seat and check out all the old toe-tappin’, hum-along favorites you remember! "Wouldn’t you love to be a Pepper, too?"

Click the MAiZE to visit the Dr Pepper Museum website!

In 2006, we suffered (as many folks did, unfortunately) a devastating drought that destroyed our cornfield crop that season and prevented us from opening altogether — so, we found some great (brilliant!) folks in Brenham, Texas that helped us figure out a way to get water to the crop! If you need to water something, big or small, you want to give ATS Irrigation a call. They’ve got everything you need from complete systems, to parts, to service and design. Tell ‘em the Kaska’s say a big, big "Hey, ya’ll! The water’s just fine up here!!"

If you need the perfect gift for a friend, complete floral services for all occasions, religious articles, balloons, invitations — well, you get the picture! You don’t want to miss a visit to Flowers N’ Things on Main Street. This adorable shop is packed full of the neatest gifts, home decor, collectibles, antiques — you’re bound to find something for everyone in there! Click the store to visit!

We couldn’t do what we do without our local True Value Hardware store! They have all the thinga-ma-jiggies and doo-hickeys we need to keep things running smooth out here on the farm! They specialize in Electrical, Plumbing, Farm & Gardent supplies, Sporting Goods and much, much more! If you want to step back in time to a good, ‘ol fashioned hardware store like your Paw Paw shopped, stop by! Visit them online — click below!

Thanks, Waco 100 & Listeners!!!

Toni Kaska — Wed, 17 Oct 2007 15:15:21 +0000

Last Thursday, Oct. 4th, our good friends Zack and Jim at Waco100 — Texas #1 Country, mentioned us on the morning show :) thanks so much guys, and thanks to all you listeners who showed up at the farm for our best weekend yet! We appreciate your business, we hope you had a good time, and we enjoyed meeting you all and making some new friends!

Visit Waco100 online, click here!!

A few pictures of our Opening Day 2007!

Toni Kaska — Mon, 01 Oct 2007 03:16:59 +0000

We took so many pictures and I’m so tired tonight, I haven’t even seen them all — but here’s a few I’ve seen so far that really sum up the kind of fun we had this weekend! If you took some great pictures you’d like to see on here, please email them to me and I’ll include them! We tell you when you visit our farm that "you’re part of the family now!" so — here’s our "family" album!

The "Ant Hill" is perfect for digging! There are really no ants in here, but in Texas we see fire ant hills bigger than this sometimes!

How about these happy employees?

Corn Cannons!

and a campfire cookout with S’MORES! Yum!! Yum!!

Corn Cannons!

Our tent and Concession booth

Pumpkins for sale!

Another happy member of our staff!

Opening Day 2007!! Thank you!

Toni Kaska — Mon, 01 Oct 2007 02:50:00 +0000

THANKS EVERYBODY FOR COMING OUT TO OUR FARM!!!

We opened yesterday, on the 29th, and we want to say a great, big, Kaska Family Farm THANK YOU! to all the great folks that came out to see us!! We had a great opening weekend!! Thanks for all the kind words, big smiles, interest in our maze and farm. Thanks to all of you who told us you’ve waited a whole year to come visit and you’ll be back from now on. We’re thrilled to see you and your children strolling around, playing in dirt and hay; toughing it out in the maze in the hot afternoon sun and tuckered out toddlers who kicked and screamed when it was time to go home. Our hearts are full of joy to have met you, to have had the opportunity to get to know you a little, and spend time with you. You all are the reason we love this so much. Stay in touch! You’re part of the family now!

Are you counting the days until the maze opens?! WE ARE :)

Toni Kaska — Sun, 09 Sep 2007 01:37:41 +0000

Each day and weekend, we get outside and piddle around getting ready for YOU, our guests! Some of you are already making birthday, scouting, and school group reservations! Wow! It’s sure a lot of fun getting to know you and hear how excited you guys are about coming out to our farm!

I thought I’d share a few pictures with you, so you can see what all we’ve been up to, and a couple of pictures of just how beautiful our farm is this time of the year! Enjoy!

Our farm, as far as you can see….

We also participated in the WestFest Parade this past Labor Day weekend! We were on our red tractor and pulled the Cow Train — did you see us?! If you got a cool picture of it, we’d love to see it! We won 3rd place in the Commercial event for our parade entry…we were so surprised and honored! Our kids and some of their friends had a great time throwing all that candy…I don’t think there’s enough candy in Texas for that crowd — but it is so much FUN!!

See all the hay?! Here’s what it looks like before we rake it up with the tractor. It takes A LOT of hay to make our monster HAY MOUNTAIN! You’d be surprised how this attraction gets our wheels spinning — too high? too wide?

Nahhh! MORE HAY! MORE HAY!

and lastly, Katie took this picture the other night, after a long, hard day working on the maze…another end to a beautiful day at Kaska Family Farm…

Despite all the recent rains..the crop is planted!!

Toni Kaska — Fri, 10 Aug 2007 21:23:13 +0000

We were shooting for a plant date in July, but August will do! The maze crop has been planted….now all we have to do is wait for the magic!!! It’s hard to believe the crop will soon be growing over our heads!

Celebrate a birthday at Kaska Family Farm!

Toni Kaska — Thu, 02 Aug 2007 22:10:17 +0000

Invite your guests to come on out to Kaska Family Farm’s Heart of Texas MAiZE…and then lose them!

RESERVATIONS are required, which includes a picnic table and covered area for your guests for three hours. You are welcome to bring lawn chairs for additional seating.

REQUEST A RESERVATION HERE

No outside food or drinks, with the exception of birthday cakes/cupcakes. Absolutely NO ALCOHOL is permitted.

Knowing that you can’t have a party without feeding your guests, we’ve come up with a simple kid-friendly menu. Surely even a picky eater can find something to quiet a grumbling tummy! The best part — YOU don’t have to haul any food around!

A MAZE MEAL can be added to your birthday party package at a cost of $3.50 per guest. The Maze Meal includes a choice of either a hotdog, corndog or nachos, choice of chips, and choice of one 20 oz Dr Pepper drink.

S’Mores (graham crackers, marshmallows and chocolate bar) can be purchased $2.00