The Treinen household is always a little crazy at this time of the year. Like any family with kids, there’s the back-to-school conversations (what do you need for school supplies, what teachers do you have, do you really need new soccer cleats and when will you stop growing…) and the end-of-summer conversations (can we fit in one more […]

This is the time of year when we (Angie and Alan) team up to design and cut the corn maze. We don’t know what it will be yet, but stay tuned…

Designing the corn maze is a challenge every year. I’ve gotten better at handling the actual, physical design using Adobe Illustrator (not the easiest program to teach yourself, BTW…) but the theme is always tricky. Here are some of the parameters I always set for the design: Aesthetically pleasing and interesting The central figure must be […]

It’s time to start thinking about our corn maze and all the fall activities, but the first thing we have to share is the news about a new Treinen baby: Mabel’s foal, born 5/17/14 at about 3 am. She’s doing well and is getting so much attention that she runs over whenever anyone walks in […]

The maze has been cut into the field and all the paths have been tilled. Now, we’ll check the photos against the design for accuracy, and adjust either the corn field or the map as necessary. And the corn needs to grow about another five feet or so–it’s 3-4 feet tall right now, but at […]

We have the occasional “discussion” here at the farm (ranging from will we have enough pumpkins to who isn’t doing their fair share of laundry), but our most recent conflict came over the Golden Spiral. Which is interesting on several levels: it’s only been since 2010 that the Golden Spiral (derived from the Golden Ratio) has […]

So, contrary to popular belief, the corn maze does not simply appear in our cornfield one day…it would be awesome to wake up one morning and find a giant squid visible from the tower, but alas, we need to rely on forced labor (OK, not really forced…) in the hot sun to get the design […]

Maze Design 2013: The clock is ticking, so it’s time to engage in some useful procrastination as I sit down to do the maze design… Part of the brainstorming process for maze design is in free-associating with ideas and images until some kind of coherent, useful theme coalesces out of the maelstrom. Here are some […]

I think that the thing that Alan and I love most about our corn maze is the process of creation–all of it, from brainstorming and sketching, to actual design, and then to the task of carving it into the corn field. This year, we’ve partnered with the Center for Engagement in Madison WI , to […]

Categories

Recent Posts