Up until this past weekend the answer to the question was easy. Papa needs snow to host a polar patch. We got about 5″ of snow this past weekend (Dec. 8) and now the answer isn’t as easy.

What is Papa’s Polar Patch you ask? In the years when we’ve had enough snow, Papa transforms his pumpkin patch into a bit of a winter wonderland — complete with snow caves (a winter version of the bale mazes), old-fashioned sled rides (see the photo to the left), horse-drawn sleigh rides, an ice pond for slipping and sliding, and sometimes a giant snow hill for short sled rides, climbing and tunneling.

Papa’s big red barn becomes a warming house complete with hot chocolate and warm chocolate chip cookies. There’s even all of the fixin’s for s’mores and a bonfire to prepare them.

Back to the question at hand: will there be a Papa’s Polar Patch this winter? We don’t know yet, and here’s why: if nothing changes, we have enough snow for one day of a polar patch. With all of the foot and sled traffic we’d generate, by the end of the day most of the pumpkin patch-turned-polar patch would be mud — including the parking lot.

The weather forecast is mixed and so here’s the bottom line (which isn’t helpful for our friends who love to have everything planned in advance): please keep an eye on Papa’s website and Facebook page. If we get a major snow fall and it looks promising, we’ll let you know as soon as we decide about opening Papa’s Polar Patch in 2012.

Thanks for your interest, and best wishes for a wonderful holiday season. Merry Christmas!