As the spring season is reaching its peak, there’s no better time to admire the flowers. One family farm in Northwest Indiana is making the same pitch, serving as the home to more than 300,000 tulips. Harvest Tyme Family Farm has officially started its Tulip Tyme Festival for the community. Local residents are invited to come check out not just the tulips, but also family-friendly attractions.
The farm, located in Lowell, has four major events in the calendar year. This includes the Tulip Tyme Festival, Fall Festival, Pumpkin Glow Trail, and the Christmas Tyme Lights. Josh Sickinger, founder and owner of Harvest Tyme, has been invested in this family farm for almost two decades now.
“We started here about 18 years ago as just a pumpkin patch,” Sickinger said. “We’ve grown since then to bring a lot of unique events out here like the dinosaurs.”
True to the name, the Tulip Tyme Festival contains an immense amount of tulips, forming into the shape of a hummingbird. After sketching the idea of a tulip field in the shape of a hummingbird, it’s a surreal feeling for him to see it finally come to life.
“The main attraction here is the 300,000 tulips,” Sickinger said. “We have almost 30 varieties out there. This is our first year of the tulips, and we’ve been wanting to do it for years. We had to plant the tulips in November, which was a busy time because we were wrapping up our pumpkin patch and starting our Christmas light walk event. We found somebody who helped us plant the fields to get the ball rolling, and we’re excited about the results.”
For the next several weeks, Harvest Tyme’s Tulip Tyme Festival will be one of the premier attractions in the Region. Tickets cost $14.95 during the week and $16.95 during the weekends, and they must be purchased online to guarantee entrance. Children ages 2 and under get in for free.
“We’re open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. every day of the week,” Sickinger said. “It’s a short season because tulips only last for so long, especially with the heat. It’s contingent on the weather for how long we’ll have it open, but we’re hoping to get through Mother’s Day weekend.”
While the tulip field is a great place to take a walk with your loved ones, or take pictures for big moments such as weddings or senior photos, Harvest Tyme has a wide variety of fun activities and games for the family to enjoy. Between mini tricycle rides, giant peg solitaire, feeding goats, and the bowler roller, there’s something for everybody at the Tulip Tyme Festival.
“We have a lot of kids who partake in our attractions, such as the racing pigs and our petting zoo,” Sickinger said. “We had a baby goat that was born last weekend. We have farm treats as well. We have lemonades during the week as well as our frozen hot chocolates and our flatbread pizza.”
While it’s a traditional success for Harvest Tyme, expanding the number of attractions and activities has been at the forefront of Sickinger and his wife, Melissa’s, plans.
“We have always geared our events towards the kids and families,” Sickinger said. “We have the amusement rides here, kids can enjoy the field, parents can get great pictures, and everyone loves the petting zoos. We love creating new and exciting events that have not been experienced in Northwest Indiana. We’ve done dinosaurs, unicorns, construction time, and now our 300,000 tulips.”
The spring season at Harvest Tyme is a beautiful opportunity to create fun, simple memories with friends and family. Sickinger takes pride in how the family farm offers an experience you would expect to see in Chicago that’s both local and affordable to many Northwest Indiana residents.
“Without the community support, this wouldn’t be anywhere close to what it is,” Sickinger said. “We’re thankful for the community and our guests who come out year after year to support the farm. Seeing everyone come out here to have a great time with their family is the main reason we do Harvest Tyme. The experience where people get to come out to the open air and see what we have to offer is amazing.”
You can use the discount code NWILife when purchasing tickets for $2 off for your admission ticket. Purchase your tickets here.
For more information on Harvest Tyme Family Farm, you can visit harvesttymefun.com.