SEARCHING FOR THE GREAT PUMPKIN

The search for the great pumpkin this Halloween may be better than ever, say local pumpkin growers.

Perfect growing weather means a bumper crop, which is being harvested now.

"We're in the peak of our harvest and it's one of the best crops we've ever had," said David Diebold of Diebold Orchards Inc. at Benton.

"The growing conditions have been ideal," he said. "We have all kinds. All the shapes and sizes are excellent. It's an extremely good year.

"In other parts of the country pumpkins are scarce this year," Diebold said. "Nationally, the price is up," but locally, pumpkins are plentiful, he said.

Stanley Beggs of Pioneer Orchard in Jackson said the pumpkins are "just gorgeous."

"They are so pretty laying out there in the field," he said. "But it is time to harvest. This is the time of year we reap the bountiful harvest, and we stay at it seven days a week."

Like Diebold, Beggs said growing conditions have been perfect for pumpkins. His son, Scott, oversees the pumpkin patch.

Joan Illers of Illers Strawberries said they grew about five acres of pumpkins this fall. She said most of the pumpkins have been harvested already and sold to local grocery stores.

"Our main thing here is strawberries," Illers said. "But we grow a few pumpkins. The pumpkins have been very good this year."

She said a few pumpkins are being sold from their home on Highway 25 south of Jackson.

Timing and good fortune seems to be keys to successful pumpkin growing.

"I hate to say it's all luck, but a lot of it is luck," Diebold said. "Pumpkins have a mind of their own. We just keep the weeds out, fertilize and give plenty of moisture."

Pumpkins put on most of their weight in about a 10-day span. Weather during that time has a big impact on the crop.

While the giant pumpkins were sizing, Diebold said, days were cool and cloudy. The pumpkins didn't get as large as expected, only about 100 pounds.

But when the jack-o-lantern pumpkins were sizing, weather was just right.

"Jack-o-lantern pumpkins usually average 13 to 15 pounds. I'd say the average for the whole field is running about 20 pounds," Diebold said.

Diebolds grows about 15 acres of pumpkins.

Last year a disease wiped out Diebolds' entire crop. They had to buy pumpkins. This year they have plenty to sell wholesale. Diebold said the wholesale pumpkins are sold locally.

Pioneer Orchard has about seven acres of pumpkins. Most of those will be harvested through the company's pick-your-own operation.

Only a few pumpkins are sold to wholesalers. Beggs said, "We have cousins down at Blodgett who have a big wholesale operation. Don Beggs loads them by the trailer-truck load." The Blodgett operation has about 40 acres of pumpkins.

Pioneer caters to visitors during the fall harvest, offering hayrides and activities for youngsters.

Between 3,000 and 5,000 children will visit the orchards.

"People have been going out and picking their own pumpkins," Beggs said. "Children just love that.

"There is nothing like it," Beggs said. "You can go back to nature, and it's a chance for children to actually see the bounties that God provides. When you see pumpkins in a supermarket, you don't get the same sense that this grows."

Pioneer Orchard grows seven varieties of pumpkins.

"One of the favorites is a real dark, brilliant orange, about the size of the basketball with a thick handle," Beggs said.

"What's so amazing is that it goes from dark green to brilliant orange in just a few days."

"It's been cooler than normal and we've had such adequate rainfall, which makes the pumpkins big," Beggs said. "Some weigh well over 100 pounds."

Selecting huge pumpkins become a tradition for families, Beggs said.

A couple last year bought a 160-pound pumpkin, which was loaded into the trunk of their car. But when they got home, they couldn't get the giant squash out. "They had to get all the neighbors to help them. That pumpkin was so big, their 2-year-old could get inside the pumpkin."

Very few pumpkins locally are eaten. "There is a lot of work to processing a pumpkin," Diebold said. "And you only need about two cups for a pie."

Besides, jack-o-lantern pumpkins are not the best flavored for pies. But, he said, varieties are available that make good pumpkin pies.

"We have a cow pumpkin that is tan colored that makes excellent pie," Diebold said. "We also have pink banana squash that makes excellent pie. We also have sugar pie pumpkins."

"We have miniature orange and white pumpkins," Diebold said. "The white pumpkins are something new. It's kind of a novelty."

Beggs said those who purchase pumpkins early should have no problem with spoilage before Halloween, if they don't carve them yet.

"First, take a magic marker and make faces on them. Then, closer to Halloween, carve them," he said.

Beggs also suggested cutting a hole in the bottom of the pumpkins, if it will be outside, to allow water to drain out.

When selecting a jack-o-lantern pumpkin, look for a deep orange color.

"Also look for strong, sturdy stems," Diebold said. "They don't have to be really long, but they need to feel woody and hard. That's a sign that the pumpkins have completely matured."

Diebold added that giant and novelty pumpkins are really squash and have fleshy, not woody, stems.

The pumpkins shouldn't have any spotting.

"It may be a little misshapen where it has laid on the ground or where a vine draped over it," he said. "But it shouldn't have spots, brown or any other color."

Those spots could indicate the pumpkin will spoil.

Diebold said, "If you have two pumpkins about the same size and one is heavier, the heavier one seems to keep better."