Pumpkin patches bring in money for farmers during only two months of the year, but for local pumpkin farmers, selling the large, round, orange fruit is just as much about connecting with people as it is making a buck.
“With my son, my daughter, my daughter-in-law and my grandkids all working together, working the farm is kind of like a big family project,” said Karen Walker, who owns and operates the Walker Farm in Logan with her husband John, a Hocking County commissioner.
It’s also about building relationships with strangers.
The attention farms get when pumpkins are in season can cause additional commotion around the farm, said Julie Garner, co-owner of Gold Family Farm, 4799 Fisher Rd. in Athens.
“We probably get the most people in the fall because people come for pumpkins and the hayride, then we have a huge flea market,” Garner said. “September through October, we see about 100 people on an average weekend, then on the flea market weekend, we see about 800 to 1,000 people.”
The success of a pumpkin farm is determined by the weather because pumpkin crops grow best in dry conditions, Garner said.
She said this year, which has been relatively wet, hasn’t been the best for her patches.
“We didn’t have the best crop, but we do have plenty of pumpkins to pick,” she said.
Garner, who co-owns the farm with her husband John, said they typically begin growing pumpkins in May and usually sell all or most of them by November.
The Garners follow a trend among farmers of diversifying their crop portfolio throughout the year by selling mostly seasonal vegetables, such as eggplants and sweet corn.
But Tom Weekley, co-owner of Weekleyville Pumpkin Farm in Guysville, said pumpkins are his main focus, though he credits selling maple syrup and other year-round crops for keeping his business afloat.
“We’ve got the total package here. Whatever makes a dollar on the farm, we’ll do,” said Weekley, who also works as a custodian and cook at Ohio University. “I would say that pumpkins are my specialty though.”
Along with pumpkins, Weekely said they sell barrels of hay, corn and sweet corn and raise trees and firewood.
“I grew up on a farm and my dad was a farmer, so (farming) is in my blood,” he said.
He, like Walker and Garner, noted a pleasure of getting to meet new people.
“I like growing things, but I like interacting with the people that come visit the farm, too,” he said.
Come winter, Weekley and Garner said they wait until spring rolls around before they begin to sell other crops.
But Walker, unlike Weekley, said owning their Logan farm is a year-round job.
“We’re open mid-September through October, but in the spring and winter months, we’re cleaning up and beginning the planting process,” Walker said.
She also sells ornamental pumpkins, Indian corn, squash, corn stalks, bales of straw and has a corn maze — all of which she said are celebratory of the fall season rather than only Halloween.
“We don’t have any objections to Halloween, we’re just all about fall decorations,” she said.
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