NEBRASKAland Magazine is dedicated to outstanding photography and informative writing with an engaging mix of articles and photos highlighting Nebraska’s outdoor activities, parklands, wildlife, history and people.
Issue link: http://mag.outdoornebraska.gov/i/668245
16 NEBRASKAland • MAY 2016 Growing Pumpkins By Sarah Kocher Pumpkin pickers and Goldilocks have one thing in common: everything has to be just right. Because the right size, color and texture for each pumpkin picker is so important, choosing the right pumpkin can be quite a task. Imagine, then, trying to grow enough perfect pumpkins for hundreds of guests. As a strictly October squash, commercial pumpkins are 10 months of work for two months of payoff. As soon as one Halloween is over, the next is already on the radar. According to Helgoth's Pumpkin Patch owner and grower Chuck Helgoth, the winter is spent ordering seed for the next year. At Helgoth's, located in Saint Libory, Nebraska, this includes ordering 28 varieties of pumpkins, including eight standard varieties as well as 20 "ornamentals," ranging in color, size and shape. Seeds cost the Helgoths between $150-200 per acre. The ground is prepared for these seeds in May, and soil samples are taken to ensure its composition is favorable for pumpkins. Like any plant, the pumpkin requires a certain soil pH to grow properly, usually between 6 and 7, and fertilizer is used to bring the soil closer to a point that pleases pumpkins. "You've got to treat it kind of like a corn crop," Helgoth said. "We don't just throw the seed around and walk away." The Helgoths also plant in the month of May and run through the first week of June. Connie Hintz, owner of Poppy's Pumpkin Patch in Norfolk, plants several different times during the spring window. After all, with such a relatively short and specifically defined period of time in which to sell the product, the pumpkins need to be ready at different intervals. Plant them all too early and they'll spoil before Halloween. Plant them all too late and the customers will have to choose between green and greener pumpkin preemies. With an even spread, the pumpkins can mature at different times, offering patch customers ripe pumpkins throughout the duration of the fall season. July and August are maintenance months: for the Helgoths, this means spraying the pumpkins with fungicides and bug sprays, fertilizing them, weeding the fields and irrigating. Hintz and her family mow, weed and hoe their land by hand. When September and October roll around, the vines dry and the patches open for customers to snip off and take home tokens of 10 months of work. It's not all vines and easy times, though. Both the Helgoths and Hintzs grow pumpkins in three separate fields to ensure hail doesn't damage the entire crop. Additionally, the sheer manpower of growing pumpkins can be a challenge. "Every one gets clipped by hand," Connie said. The stems have to be just right, so each pumpkin must receive individual attention when it's time to cut them off and haul them to the patch. Finally, there's the competition factor – not between humans and humans, but between humans and crows, raccoons and cows. The cows, perhaps, come out on top; according to Hintz's grandson and worker Jared, when the crows and raccoons ruin the pumpkins for sale, the cows get the leftovers. Eventually, though, pumpkin season arrives, and we will have plenty to choose from. Hintz cultivates 8 acres of pumpkins, and the Helgoths have a 40-acre spread which in a good year yields 20,000 pounds of pumpkins per acre. If you're doing it right, you'll choose one this fall that's firm and solid with a stem that's thick, green and sturdy. If you're in it for a jack-o'-lantern, don't buy too early, and don't park it on the concrete – the pumpkin will suck up the moisture housed in the concrete and rot faster. For the Goldilockses of pumpkin pickers, the effort required for the perfect pumpkin is worth it. The same is true for the Helgoths and the Hintzs; growing pumpkins is a labor of love that, in the end, can't be squashed. ■ PHOTO BY SARAH KOCHER PHOTO BY JEFF KURRUS PHOT PHOT PHOT PHOTO BY O BY O BY O BY SAR SAR SAR SARAH K AH K AH K AH KOCHE OCHE OCHE OCHER Many pumpkins in Nebraska are planted this month in preparation for Halloween. PHOT PHOT PHOTO BY O BY O BY JEF JEF JEFF KU F KU F KURRUS RRUS RRUS