COLUMBUS, Ind. — John Hackman has farmed all of his life on a farm along Indiana State Road 7 in Bartholomew County east of Columbus, Ind.

Many things have changed over the years. Although Hackman’s farm has not moved, it is now on State Road 46 because the route numbers have been changed.

On this farm John Hackman raised hogs and grew grain. Now the hogs are gone and the farm has been transformed into Hackman’s Farm Market and Greenhouse.

The change came after Hackman’s daughters, Liana and Jenny, returned from college and came back to work on the family farm. Liana, whose married name is Lienhopp, attended Purdue and now runs the agricultural part of the business. Jenny Whiteside, also married, attended Indiana Univer-sity and is responsible for the business side of the operation.

Besides homegrown produce throughout the year, Hackman’s features other reasons for people to visit to their market. Hackman said nearly 2,500 school children come to the farm annually. The farm will host preschoolers to first graders who visit the market to learn about life on the farm.

Hackman said many visiting children are from the city and have never seen farm animals.

Hackman’s Farm Market offers a petting zoo featuring typical farm animals. Each school child receives a free pumpkin before leaving. Regarding pumpkins, Hackman is enthusiastic this year about his bumper pumpkin crop. He estimates that they have 10 tons of pumpkins per acre. Some of the pumpkins will be sent to Florida, but most of them will be sold at the market.

According to Whiteside, the market has loyal customers from the area, but they have also seen an increase in people stopping by the market who are traveling along the newly rerouted State Route 46 on their way to Nashville, Ind.

This is a busy time of year for the market. Last year, Whiteside and Lienhopp started a festival at the market featuring a corn maze, hayrides, and other activities.

The festival was so popular that the family decided to make it an annual event.

This year’s festival was Sept. 30 to Oct. 1 and Oct. 7-8.

This farm news was published in the Oct. 18, 2006 issue of Farm World, serving Indiana, Ohio, Illinois, Kentucky, Michigan and Tennessee.