Sarah, 23, Sami, 29, and Andi, 27, are three sisters who are not afraid of getting their hands dirty. The Treviño trio created one of the biggest and most popular pumpkin patches in the Rio Grande Valley.
The idea of creating a pumpkin patch in their home stemmed from visiting several in Houston, San Antonio and Austin.
“We always felt like there was nothing in the Valley that necessarily satisfied our cravings,” Sarah said. “We had to travel to get that fall experience, and we wanted to give that experience to the people of the Valley.”
The sisters love fall season and grew up on their family ranch located in La Feria. They convinced their father to buy pumpkins to create the pumpkin patch at the T-Ranch located at 25492 N. FM 2556.
Sami, who is the mother of two toddlers, said she felt there was a need for more family oriented activities.
For Andi, it was about adding activities for couples to do as a date or for groups of friends.
The pumpkin patch is a popular spot for people to visit and take pictures. However, when they opened in 2019, the Treviño sisters were afraid no one would show up.
“We felt ridiculous,” Sami said. “We felt as if no one was going to come. My husband and I printed flyers and put them everywhere.”
But, what’s helped them grow in popularity has been word of mouth and the aesthetic of their pumpkin patch.
At 75 acres of land, the area is beautifully crafted.
The three sisters work hard to set up their photo stations and create a scenery people will want to visit. Their most popular photo station is a small house filled with pumpkins, as well as a pink wall created by Sarah.
“We strive to provide hospitality to every single visitor,” Sami said.
The sisters said they think about what to create and add to the pumpkin patch throughout the year, but begin to work on those ideas in the spring. Their hard work and the investment they have made into the pumpkin patch has been a leap of faith, they said.
“Our dad taught us to not be afraid to fail, and we knew we had put all this money into it and there was a chance only the family would come,” Andi said.
The three of them said their parents are their sources of inspiration when it comes to hard work and entrepreneurship. They have been highly encouraged by them to pursue their ambitions and have now made it a family dream to improve the pumpkin patch every year.
“Our mindset was to hope for the best and expect the worst,” Andi said. “We are still having fun with it.”
An idea the trio has had in mind did not come through as expected this year, but it continues to be a project for the future. Andi said they wanted to do a sunflower field area where people can take photos, but because of heavy rain, their crops were drowned. The family cut an orchard to make room, but Sami said they will try again.
“It’s a gamble,” Andi said.
The pumpkin patch idea was also a roll of the dice.
The sisters made sure to include activities and photo opportunities that would attract as many people as possible so the patch would be successful.
And they made that happen.
The pumpkin patch includes a 15-minute hay ride and people can see the family’s buffalos, cattle, sheep, pony and more. There is also an animal exhibit area with goats and pigs where people can feed them.
Their popular pumpkin house was inspired by other patches in the country. It was built while the pumpkin patch was already running. The sisters said many of their ideas arise as the pumpkin patch is open and in season.
New additions coming this year are a giant rocking chair where families can sit on and take photos, a giant seesaw, movie nights and other surprises.
“We have a huge projector,” Sami said. “We had the idea but now we will execute it.”
Because Andi and Sami are millennials and Sarah is Gen Z, they know their audience and how to stay innovative. They will feature a day solely for influencers to attend where they can promote the pumpkin patch and gain more recognition through their help.
The pumpkin patch opened its doors Sept. 16 and closes Nov. 14. It will be open from Thursday through Sunday; Thursday and Friday from 5 to 8 p.m. and Saturday and Sunday from 1 to 8 p.m.
This year, weekends will feature small businesses and vendors who will be selling their items.
“We knew with our platform, a crowd was going to be there for businesses,” Sarah said.
Another new addition will be a corn sandbox on the floor for children to play, as well as a hay mountain with slides on the side.
When it comes to maintenance, the three work both physically and mentally in the patch.
They get the grass trimmed. Before it opened to the public, they tore down some fences. They all raked the ground and placed the pumpkins.
Their days begin around 6 a.m. and end around 1 a.m.
“The cliché of blood, sweat and tears is literally what we go through,” Andi said.
“We are always scared and we cry because there is always so much pressure and we do it all over again every day,” she said.
As sisters, they are all very collaborative with one another. Sarah said they do not sugarcoat to one another and are always honest. Sami is a mother and knows what children want and how mothers think; Sarah is good with aesthetics, Andi said.
“She is very detail-oriented. And I have worked in event planning and have had corporate jobs, and I brought that. Each of us brought our own strengths,” she said.
Their plan is to keep operating the pumpkin patch as long as they can. In the future, they would love to add a restaurant or an Airbnb on their property.
From the looks of it, think bigger and better is the Treviño sisters’ motto.
“As mentally and physically exhausting as it is, we love it,” Sarah said.
