Raprager Farms Is a Year-Round Farm Now. The Free Months Start When the Pumpkins Leave.

Raprager Farms on Boy Scout Road now runs all year and charges no admission outside its major seasonal festivals. In past years the farm opened for fall and that was it. According to FOX 13, the small family-owned farm "has transitioned to year-round operations with free admission during non-festival periods." The Fall Pumpkin Festival that opened September 18 is the paid part of the year. The months after it are the default.

That changes how the place fits into an Odessa weekend. A $19 ticket and a crowded October Saturday is one way to see the farm. A free Sunday breakfast at a chef-run restaurant on the same grounds is another, and it's the one that lasts past Thanksgiving.

What Opened at 16907 Boy Scout Road

The Land O' Lakes-Lutz Courier reported that the farm billed September 18 as a grand reopening. It launched the fall festival and a new sit-down restaurant, Whizk & Brew, on the same day. The Courier also reported two new retail tenants in the farm's Farmville retail village, Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory and Cold Stone Creamery.

So the farm now has a full restaurant, a dessert counter, a chocolate shop and a farm market under one parking lot. In the FOX 13 report, operations manager Kendall Rickert said the market carries seasonal items such as fresh apple cider donuts, farm-fresh eggs and pickles. Owner Justin Raprager pointed to live entertainment and a campfire as reasons to stay a while.

The farm's own festival page says the same. Under a "Launching Soon" heading, it describes "A Year-Round Farm Schedule" that goes beyond fall with "more farm experiences, family activities, dining, and special events throughout the year."

Whizk & Brew Is the Reason to Go Back

Whizk & Brew's owner and executive chef is Jessica Tomlinson. The Courier reports she graduated from the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, New York. She cooked at Michelin-starred Spiaggia in Chicago, The Bristol, Ford's Garage and Fleming's Prime Steakhouse, then rose to vice president on the corporate side of hospitality before opening her own kitchen. Co-owner Lance Tomlinson and head chef Joe Himes complete the leadership team. Tampa Bay 28 called the concept "refined nostalgia."

The menu is comfort food. Breakfast includes a birria brisket burrito, chorizo biscuits and gravy, and brown butter buttermilk pancakes. Lunch and dinner run to a smashburger, brisket and frites, and bacon scallion mac and cheese.

According to the restaurant's page, breakfast is served Saturday and Sunday from 9 to 11:30 a.m., and hours may change for special events. The same page says the breakfast menu will not be served during the Fall Festival, and the regular menu may be lightly modified during the event. The pancakes and the birria burrito are on the regular weekend schedule. On festival weekends, the kitchen serves the festival menu.

The Stretch When the Gate Costs $19

Festival weekends are the exception. Fall Festival admission is $19 and includes farm animals, hayrides, a petting zoo, a bounce pillow, a corn pit, a hay chute slide, a passion fruit maze, and field games such as cornhole and giant Connect Four. Axe throwing, pony rides and gem mining cost extra. The festival runs on select Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays through November. Hours are 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Fridays, 9 a.m. to 11 p.m. Saturdays and 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sundays.

Those are the same three days the restaurant is open, which matters if you only want to eat. The Whizk & Brew page lays out the rule:

Admission to Whizk & Brew is free except during major festivals.

Further down, the same page says that during "major festivals and specially ticketed events, festival admission requirements and event access rules apply." The farm doesn't say outright whether every Fall Festival date counts as a major festival. Festival tickets are sold on dated listings, so a brunch reservation on a festival Saturday could come with a ticket requirement. Before booking a meal through October and November, check the calendar or call the farm at 813-606-4242.

As of today, these are the remaining October dates on the farm's ticket store. The store doesn't show every product, so this isn't the full schedule.

The farm's FAQ says festival tickets are final and nonrefundable, so pick the date before you buy.

October Nights, and the Weekend Starkey Market Lines Up

The after-dark program is what October adds to the festival. The Courier lists ghost stories, haunted paths and a "Bog Monster" hunt after 6 p.m. The farm's page adds a ghost-story hayride and a haunted maze on select October dates. FOX 13 reported that a giant dragon display went up on the grounds ahead of October.

The farm says daytime festival programming is designed for families. Any separately ticketed nighttime or haunted experience comes with its own age guidance. The Saturday after-6 p.m. entries on Oct. 17 and Oct. 24 are the dated evening options on the ticket store.

Starkey Market, out on the Starkey Boulevard edge of SR 54 at 3460 Starkey Boulevard, has its own October calendar. Its pumpkin patch runs daily through Oct. 31 from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. The market's 5th Annual Oktoberfest falls on Oct. 16 and 17, noon to 9 p.m., with Bavarian-inspired food and drink, music, family activities and games. That's the same weekend as two of Raprager's listed festival dates. If you'd like to fit both into one weekend:

1. Friday, Oct. 16, evening. Head to Starkey Market's Oktoberfest before it closes at 9 p.m.
2. Saturday, Oct. 17, after 6 p.m. Use the $19 after-6 p.m. Raprager entry for the haunted program, with Whizk & Brew open until 10 p.m.
3. Sunday, Oct. 18, morning. Make a pumpkin run at Starkey Market's patch, which opens at 8 a.m.

For adults only, Starkey Market also lists a Halloween Costume Party at The Barn on Friday, Oct. 23, from 10 p.m. to 1 a.m.

After November, the Farm Goes Back to Free

Raprager's own FAQ says the farm's working season runs September through November. It's also "launching an expanded year-round schedule of farm experiences, seasonal events, dining, and family activities." Once the festival wraps, the paid layer comes off. Whizk & Brew's free-entry policy covers "the restaurant, desserts, retail shopping, and the atmosphere of the farm grounds" without a general activity pass.

Once the festival menu is gone, a weekend morning at Raprager can mean brown butter pancakes or a birria brisket burrito at Whizk & Brew, plus dessert and shopping on the grounds, with no ticket at the gate. The winter schedule is already taking shape. The farm's calendar lists a Fresh Start Farm Day in January with farm walks and animal visits, and a Winter Farm & Chili Cook-Off, also in January, with local chili teams, tasting tickets, live country music and fire pits. The calendar says exact dates, hours, pricing and ticket availability will be posted as each event is confirmed.

Some practical details for the rest of the season. The farm is at 16907 Boy Scout Road, and FOX 13 placed it in the Keystone area of Hillsborough County. If you go on a festival weekend, check the farm's live activity notices first. When we checked, the festival page listed the zipline as unavailable pending a state inspection.

New spots like Whizk & Brew are part of what makes a neighborhood feel like home, and that's the kind of detail Skyler Warden tracks across Odessa and the rest of northwest Tampa Bay. If you're curious how Odessa's growing weekend options show up in local home values, or you'd like to know what your Odessa home would sell for this season, let's connect.