Mission Coffee House – a shop with purpose
CapVest, LLC settles into its new offices in Altoona
September 29, 2025
TREMPELEAU – Fall in Trempealeau means crisp air, colorful trees and a visit to Schwertel Family Farms – home to one of the area’s well-known seasonal corn mazes.
Co-owners, Kristina and Ryan Schwertel, said the farm (W27348 State Road 54/35) – conveniently located between a winery and an apple orchard – is a popular stop for fall outings, drawing in visitors eager to navigate the maze, pick up seasonal produce or enjoy the charm of a countryside autumn.
“You can get your produce, pet farm animals and make a day of it, and it’s reasonable family entertainment,” Kristina said. “I firmly believe in providing families a place they can come and not spend money if they don’t want to.”
A year-round destination
With offerings that change throughout the growing season, Kristina said Schwertel Family Farms functions as a multi-season destination.
In spring and summer, she said the greenhouse sees steady traffic tied to harvesting cycles.
The Schwertels said they also opened a beer garden in 2021, and on select weekends, guests can enjoy live music, food trucks and family-friendly activities.
This year’s weather, she said, pushed some harvests later than usual, leaving the farm with watermelon, tomatoes and sweet corn into mid-September.
As fall-like weather enters, Kristina said Schwertel Family Farms is now turning its attention to fall favorites like mums, pumpkins and 15 varieties of squash.
Kristina said the corn maze remains a major attraction.
In its inaugural year, she said the farm featured a “shop local” theme, featuring a different local business each week.
“It went over huge,” she said.
The second year, Kristina said she asked their daughter – who had recently been diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes (T1D) – if they could host a corn maze in honor of that cause.
Kristina said she agreed, and that year’s maze featured a large ribbon design, helping raise several thousand dollars for Thunder Ride, an organization supporting children and families affected by T1D.
For this year’s maze, Kristina said they introduced a farm-themed layout and enhanced the maze’s difficulty, extending it across eight acres of corn.
“It’s definitely more challenging, which is what people wanted,” she said. “Some people even want to do it without a map.”
Falling into fun
The farm’s shift into fall, Kristina said, is unmistakable, with pumpkins, gourds and other seasonal decorations setting the tone for the season.
Earlier this month, Schwertel Family Farms hosted its Second Annual End of Summer Bash, which featured live music, story hour, face painting, arts and crafts, a magic show and bounce houses.
Fortunately, Kristina said, the weather cooperated to get people into the fall spirit.
“[The event’s success] is so weather-dependent,” she said. “If it’s cool, it makes people feel ‘fall,’ put on their boots and hoodies and come get their coffee. Last year, September was hot, so it was a little slower around here.”
By the third week of September each year, Kristina said families come out in droves to enjoy what has become a tradition for many.
“Once we hit that third week into the first week of October, it’s peak ‘go time,’ and we get very little sleep,” she said.
During the fall season, Kristina said food trucks are a big hit at the farm, with the Coffee Camper regularly serving fresh coffee as early as 9 a.m.
“It’s great, because the [Coffee Camper] has its own following, too, so it’s a win-win as it brings in both our [segments of] followers,” she said.
Kristina said the beer garden opens at 11 a.m. most weekends, with live music scheduled on Sundays when the Green Bay Packers don’t have noon games.
On gamedays, she said they switch gears and show the Packers game.
“It’s fun to watch the Packers game in the sunshine, as it’s like our own little Packers party/tailgate,” she said.
Given its location, Kristina said they draw Packers and Minnesota Vikings fans alike, and welcome all.
When there isn’t a Packers game, Kristina said the farm usually prepares and serves food from its concession stand and outdoor grilling area, offering items like chicken dinners, pork dinners and walking tacos – especially on weekends when food trucks aren’t on site.
Families, she said, come out for a meal and the kids can wander to see the animals, take free wagon rides or head over to the corn maze.
“The maze is the only thing we charge for, but that’s because it costs us a lot of money to put it in,” she said.
Originally introduced out of necessity amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Kristina said the beer garden has since become a successful addition to the farm.
“People want to be outside,” she said. “One thing from COVID that you see is a lot more beer gardens and outside areas because we had to pivot. As farmers, you have to be really creative and do what you need to do to survive.”
Tucked behind the sheds, surrounded by flowers and featuring a stage Ryan built for musicians, Kristina said the farm’s beer garden is a bit of an intentionally concealed attraction.
“You don’t realize it’s back there, and I like it that way,” she said. “It’s a hidden gem.”
From humble beginnings to thriving family farm
Kristina said the farm now features a refrigerated store for selling produce, a far cry from its early days as a humble stand near the highway.
The farm, established in the 1950s, she said, was home to Ryan’s dad and his eight siblings.
Kristina said it was Ryan’s grandmother, Millie Schwertel, who began the tiny produce stand featuring goods from her large garden.
“That produce stand was very well known around here,” she said.
Over time, Kristina said, one of Millie’s sons took over managing the produce stand, with Ryan and Kristina helping out by picking produce on nights and weekends.
When the Great River Road was reconstructed and raised, they relocated the stand farther from the highway for safety reasons.
Kristina said the farm has evolved significantly over time as well.
After Ryan’s grandfather passed away in 1985, she said ownership transferred to Ryan’s dad and three others.
Originally a dairy farm that also grew rural crops, Kristina said the family made a major shift in the 1990s by selling their cows.
This change meant they no longer needed to cultivate all the original farmland, leading them to sell off portions of it.
Today, Kristina said, she and Ryan rent land to carry out a five-year crop rotation, ensuring the soil stays rich in nutrients for their crops.
“This year, we’re growing pumpkins behind the house,” she said. “Last year, they were on the rented land.”
At one point in its history, Kristina said the family began raising beef calves to sell as beef cows, but sold that operation to focus on others.
After years of planning, the Schwertels purchased the farm in 2014, achieving a goal Ryan had set for himself to accomplish by age 35.
The next generation plants new ideas
Juggling the farm with other demands, Kristina said, wasn’t an easy endeavor.
When they purchased the farm, she said they both worked full-time, had two daughters and were balancing a lot of responsibilities.
“Financially, that’s what we had to do at that point,” she said.
Kristina said they continued that pace until 2018, when Ryan couldn’t maintain working full-time in construction while also trying to operate a farm.
“We realized we weren’t doing anything well,” she said. “Ryan wasn’t sleeping, and we had to choose.”
As their commitment to reviving the produce stand and growing the business deepened, Kristina said sales began to increase.
“There were days I’d sell five dozen corn in a day,” she said. “Now, we can sell 1,000 dozen corn in a given day. It’s definitely grown every year, and we’re constantly investing in the farm and making improvements. We painted the barn one year, and every year, we do a little more to make it attractive.”
Kristina said she has scaled back her work in insurance, serving as the facilitator of the business and managing their four children’s schedules, and said guests will always see both her and Ryan at the farm on the weekends.
“We are not the owners who say, ‘good luck,’” she said. “We’re running around and making sure everybody has what they need. It’s my goal that when people come out, they have a fun day.”
Kristina said being located near other popular local attractions allows guests to enjoy a variety of excellent restaurants and additional points of interest nearby.
“People will come for the day and make the loop, or even the weekend, as we’re only 10 minutes from the Mississippi River,” she said. “Trempealeau is a great little town.”
Though the work on the farm is never done, Kristina said come November, the family will have a chance to catch their breath.
This holds true, she said, both for the farm and their busy family life, with all four daughters playing basketball, adding its own layer of scheduling challenges.
During this slower season, Kristina said she takes the opportunity to tidy up her office, while Ryan focuses on repairing tractors and handling maintenance tasks until it’s time to restart the greenhouses in February.
“We will have a little time to breathe and then we’ll be busy again,” she said.
For more on Schwertel Family Farms, visit schwertelfamilyfarms.com.
