Take a left turn at the sunflower, dodge the pollinating bee, go past more sunflowers, and take a right to finish the race.  

Just outside of Buhler in Reno County, sisters Tonya Martisko and Julie Ball (née Gaeddert), are bringing sunshine and sunflowers to their community by sharing a bit of their land with visitors for their Sunflower Festival. The festival each August and September features picturesque views during a 5K run and 1-mile walk, a craft market and more.  

The sisters began their agritourism venture in 1999 with a corn maze. Martisko was living in Minnesota at the time but decided to move home to help get things going.  

“When we thought of the corn maze and agritourism idea, there weren’t many options in Kansas like it,” Martisko says. “We decided to take a risk and start something new, and with each year, the events seem to grow.” 

The fourth-generation Gaeddert farm still grows row crops, but the sisters continually look for ways to diversify its agritourism offerings.  

In 2018, the corn maze changed to sunflowers. 

PUTTING THE AG IN AGRITOURISM 

Like wineries or corn mazes, the Sunflower Festival in Buhler benefits from sharing its rural setting with tourists. Many agricultural producers in Kansas have set their sights on agritourism attractions, and the state provides protection and promotion for those endeavors through the Kansas Department of Commerce (KDOC).  

In 2004, the Kansas Agritourism Promotion Act was signed into law through KDOC. Provided the agritourism business has proper documentation and registration status, the Act provides a layer of liability coverage to protect the business.  

“The Kansas Agritourism Program is a great asset for any producer looking to turn their farming operation into a fun place for Kansas residents and visitors to experience and learn about the agriculture industry,” Kelsey Wendling, agritourism manager at KDOC, says. “By registering in the program, producers receive many benefits including limited liability protection from the state, free promotion of their operation through various avenues and resources to help improve their operations, all at no cost to the producer.” 

For visitors of the agritourism locations, there are a lot of options to experience. 

“When visiting a registered agritourism location, visitors will be assured to have a fun and unique experience,” Wendling says. “From a 5K through a sunflower field, yoga with goats or staying in a tree house, the opportunities are endless when you visit one of the 450 registered locations throughout the state.” 

To learn more about the agritourism businesses in Kansas, visit www.travelks.com.  

For the Sunflower Festival in Buhler, agritourism events like a trail race through sunflowers and a craft market allow visitors to take in our state’s official flower. 

CHANGE OF PACE 

Joshua Paine and his wife, Carri, of Galva have run the Sunflower Trail Run for three of the past four years it’s been offered.  

“My wife and I both enjoy running, and that’s how we met,” Joshua says. “We both love getting up on Saturday mornings and running on our county roads.” 

As a hobby runner, Joshua has run his fair share of trail and road races. The opportunity to run through sunflowers was one he and Carri thought would be fresh change of pace (pun intended). 

“My wife is an avid sunflower fan, and she’s the one who found the race,” Joshua says. “Running through a sunflower field is such a unique experience, a once-a-year type of thing. This is the only one that I know of with the idea of running through a sunflower field. It’s cool to take in all the beauty of it.” 

The Paines love knowing they’re supporting a farm, too. 

“We follow the organizers on Facebook, and it makes the investment of the race entry fee well worth it when we know we’re supporting a local farm,” Joshua says. 

Joshua, with a time of 20 minutes even, won the 2022 race. 

“It wasn’t my fastest time for a 5K, but it doesn’t matter too much considering the views,” he says. 

The 5K and 1-mile race is scheduled for Aug. 26 this year and runners can sign up at www.kansasmaze.com.  

CRAFT MARKET 

In 2020, Martisko and Ball wanted to help their other craft vendors when craft markets and fairs were being canceled because of the pandemic. They have a large outdoor space available to practice safe distancing, and by September, they had enough interest and safety measures in place to hold their first craft market. 

“We felt like we could help these small business owners who were seeing losses in revenue due to the pandemic,” Martisko says. “Our intention was to just have the craft fair that year in 2020, but it was so successful that we continued to offer it.” 

Now in its fourth year, the sisters are expecting more than 100 vendors at this year’s event on Sept. 2. The market features homemade products, vintage home décor, baked goods and food trucks. General admission includes an all-access pass to the vendors, live music, sunflower fields, a free sunflower to take home and memories for the family to enjoy forever.  

A portion of the proceeds from the craft market this year will go to Ripples from the Well, a nonprofit faith ministry with the mission of providing continuous care for orphans – things like food, shelter, education, clean water and basic medical needs. 

“The organizers of Ripples from the Well are local friends of ours,” Martisko says. “They started their mission in 2020 to help children in Uganda. Like ripples, their impact has continued to grow, and they now reach more than 150 kids.” 

Learn more about Ripples from the Well at www.ripplesfromthewell.org. 

For information about the craft fair, visit www.kansasmaze.com.   

RAINY DAYS FOR SUNNY CROPS 

Sunflowers, like any crop, depend on timely rain to grow, so the dates of the festival are dependent on Mother Nature.  

“We have about five acres of sunflowers that we irrigate, but the majority of our sunflowers are dry-land,” Martisko says. “When we plant them around July 1, we know there’s a lot that can happen weather-wise between then and mid-August, when the Sunflower Festival typically starts. We just have to hope every year we get the rain we need.” 

Pending timely rains, the Sunflower Festival will be open Aug. 19 through Sept. 9 this year, so take a trip to Buhler to visit the state’s official flower.  

To learn more and to register for the events, visit www.kansasmaze.com.