Poppell Farms is a family-owned working farm in southeast Georgia, just outside of Odum, and about 75 miles southwest of Savannah. In the spring and summer, vegetables of all kinds are grown and sold. On August 1, set-up began for the 19th annual Fun Farm, which started on September 28, 2019.
Fun Farm is an Agri-Tourism event with a lot of family activities including the following -
a corn maze
hayrides to the pumpkin patch
a large playground with jumping pillows
a petting farm that included a very large cow, several ponies, 2 donkeys, rabbits, a llama, and many goats, chickens and pheasants
basketball
cornhole
a cow train
a fish pond
duck races
hay maze
pumpkins of all sizes for sale
There are 10 very large tents with tables and benches to provide seating in the shade, and a place to enjoy lunch or a snack.
Lots photos here: https://www.poppellfarms.com/
Our arrival at Poppell Farms was memorable to say the least. When we arrived, the only place we could find to get off the road was in a large parking area across the road from the farm center. Unknown to us, it was freshly graded sandy soil that had lots of moisture on it, so we quickly became bogged down. After meeting Mr. Poppell, he said he'd have no trouble getting us back on the road using one of his large tractors to tow us backwards and that is what he did. He then took us to our parking area with full hookups in a grove of trees, where 3 of the other workampers were set up. (The backward tractor tow resulted in a bent drop hitch adapter, so we got a replacement during our stay)
The next 3 days, we helped with final preparations for the Farm Fun event Daytime highs were near 100 degrees with high humidity, and we soon found out the importance of drinking lots of water and taking frequent breaks, which the owners encouraged us to do. The farm workers had started setting up for this event on August 1st, but now it was crunch time to get everything done for the opening. Hank's work started on Wednesday, which included moving lots of large bales of hay and various other heavy items. I didn't start working until Thursday afternoon, helping to sort and fold hundreds of t-shirts, and that job was in the A/C cooled gift shop. Friday, the ladies were assigned to various clean-up tasks on the grounds. With the heat, we were both worn out by the end of those work days.
Saturday, September 28 was the official beginning of Farm Fun and the work week included all 7 days. Hank was assigned to one of the concession stands as a grill and fryer cook in a screened kitchen area. There were 3 large fans for air movement, but with the very high temperatures, it was a hot, although not too strenuous, job. My job on weekends was to drive a golf cart in the parking lot to transport those who might need some help on getting to the ticket office - elderly, disabled, moms-to be, or families without strollers who had young children. During the week, I worked in the gift shop handling sales, answering phone calls, and keeping things neat. Compared to the set-up work, our jobs were easily learned and easy to handle.
Monday through Friday, we were open for pre-arranged field trips from schools, day care facilities and special needs programs from 9 A.M. to 1:30 P.M with reduced admission charges. Often there were over 300 children scheduled to attend, and many were accompanied by parents, young siblings, and grandparents. Each group was assigned to a large tent and many brought lunches with them for the children. The concession stand and gift shop was usually busy.
Fun Farm was open to the public on Saturdays from 10 to 5, and on Sundays from 12 - 5. The weekend events attracted thousands of people, many driving several hours to get there. On a few weekends there were also nighttime activities including a Haunted Trail that was run by a youth group as a fund-raiser, but we never worked at the evening events.
The weather remained very warm until the last week. We had to cancel events on two weekdays and one Saturday due to heavy rainfall, but we were spared any damage from Tropical Storm Nestor. (The owner said 2 years ago, they had to dismantle the big tents 4 times because of predicted hurricanes). Fall temperatures have finally come to our location, and we like that instead of the extreme heat . There's even a little bit of fall color showing in some of the hardwoods.
Besides our daily work details during our stay, Hank corrected a water bay leak problem with the help of another workamper, and replaced our tow hitch and two of the Tire Pressure Monitoring System sensors. We made weekly trips to Jesup, GA about 10 miles from the farm, to get groceries and enjoy a dinner out. Odum only has about 500 residents with one gas station, a small restaurant, liquor store a very small laundromat, post office, city hall, and volunteer fire department.
Our last work day is Tuesday, November 5, and we plan to leave here on Wednesday, November 6 to start our journey to the Louisville, KY area to visit with family and friends. Overall, we enjoyed our latest workamping adventure. We were treated well by the owners, and our fellow workampers quickly became friends as well as co-workers. Our work situation included hourly wages and a free camping spot with full hookups. This past week, the Poppells treated us to a delicious farewll dinner at Reedy Creek Restaurant, near Odum, as a thank-you for our efforts.
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