PUMPKINS!
October 1, 2009
Agua Linda Farm Fall Festival. Weekends in October. Saturdays and Sundays 10am-5pm. Movie Nights Fridays Oct. 16, 23, 30 It’s the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown by the pumpkin patch! Hayrides, music, petting zoo, farm raised burgers, hay maze, farm store, you-pick veggies, pony rides, pumpkin patch and more! $7/car admission. Opening weekend only – FREE ADMISSION, Oct 3&4 more info at www.AguaLindaFarm.net I-19 to Exit 42, Take East Frontage Road south.
We planted our first pumpkins nine years ago. Stewart had been reading about how small family farms across the country were luring thousands of visitors out to the country with a pick-your-own pumpkin patch. We decided to give it a try. We planted the seeds, hand drew some flyers (we didn’t even have a computer then), hung a scale from a tree branch in the front yard, stacked some hay bales onto a tractor drawn wagon for hayrides and put some signs on the roads with arrows. I ran sales under the mesquite tree on Saturdays and Sundays that October while Stewart drove hayrides out to our first pumpkin patch. We invited our kid’s teachers to bring their classes out for field trips. Desarae – only six that first year, took off a few “work” days to conduct tours of the animals in the corral that had become the “petting zoo”. A couple hundred people came to our farm on the weekends that year, including about ten groups of kindergarten kids for field trips.
After four years of our Fall Festival slowly gaining in popularity, Tucson Lifestyle Magazine featured our farm with a seven-page article that came out that September. We had hoped that the exposure would bring more folks to the farm, but were overwhelmed with the response. I recall curling up in bed at the end of the first weekend – exhausted from the day but too stressed to sleep. I finally gave up, brewed a pot of coffee and stayed up all night with Stewart figuring out how we would get through the rest of the month. Pacing the floor in our pijamas with a caffeine buzz, we determined that we needed another hay wagon – the old red one would do; another scale – that would set us back almost a thousand dollars, but what choice did we have?; I would call my sisters and get them down to pitch in, and we needed to order more pumpkins from another farm. Our Fall Festival was a hit!
Pumpkin festivals have come to the rescue of many small, family farms across the country. According to Purdue University research, agricultural-based tourism is the fastest growing sector of the U.S. tourism industry, averaging a 30 percent increase since 1997. Folks are looking for more than just pumpkins, though – they want a day on a farm – hay-rides, music, food, animals, mazes and more. Although we have stuck to the original plan of growing a wide variety of vegetables to sell to consumers year round, our Fall Festival has become the annual “shot in the arm” that keeps us going.
Why do so many people flock to farms this time of year? Stewart and I have our theories. We believe that wholesome, outdoor activities are hard to find, especially if you live in a city. Many people crave the old fashioned fun that a family farm offers. Also, in recent years, the “buy local” movement has brought folks down to the farm to support what we do, rather than buying pumpkins from a big box store. This year, we are hoping that families are looking for inexpensive ways to have fun and that our festival will be recession proof.
And, AMERICANS LOVE PUMPKINS! The round, orange squash, which is actually a fruit, has become as recognizable as a symbol of American celebrations as the Christmas tree, the Thanksgiving turkey, Easter eggs and fireworks. In fact, the Halloween industry has grown 25% a year for the past ten years. While most pumpkins grown in the United Sates are processed for the food industry, those grown on small farms are primarily used for decoration. (In fact, this has recently prompted some states to attempt, unsuccessfully, to tax pumpkin sales.)
The Origins of the Jack O’Lantern
The tradition of carving faces into pumpkins has been around for centuries. According to Irish myth, a man nicknamed “Stingy Jack.” invited the Devil to have a drink with him. Stingy Jack didn’t want to pay for his drink, so he convinced the Devil to turn himself into a coin that Jack could use to buy their drinks. Once the Devil did so, Jack decided to keep the money and put it into his pocket next to a silver cross, which prevented the Devil from changing back into his original form. Jack eventually freed the Devil. The next year, Jack again tricked the Devil into climbing into a tree to pick a piece of fruit. While he was up in the tree, Jack carved a sign of the cross into the tree’s bark so that the Devil could not come down until the Devil promised Jack not to bother him for ten more years.
Soon after, Jack died. As the legend goes, God would not allow such an unsavory figure into heaven. The Devil would not allow Jack into hell. He sent Jack off into the dark night with only a burning coal to light his way. Jack put the coal into a carved out turnip and has been roaming the Earth with it ever since. The Irish began to refer to this ghostly figure as “Jack of the Lantern,” and then, simply “Jack O’Lantern.”
(source: The History Channel)
In Ireland and Scotland, people carved faces into turnips or other root crops. Later, in North America, the pumpkin became the preferred crop to carve.
Pumpkin facts:
• Pumpkins are low in calories, fat, and sodium and high in fiber. They are good sources of Vitamin A, Vitamin B, potassium, protein, and iron.
• Pumpkin flowers are edible.
• The largest pumpkin pie ever made was over five feet in diameter and weighed over 350 pounds. It used 80 pounds of cooked pumpkin, 36 pounds of sugar, 12 dozen eggs and took six hours to bake.
• Pumpkins have been grown in North America for five thousand years. They are indigenous to the western hemisphere.
• Pumpkins were once recommended for removing freckles and curing snake bites.
• The largest pumpkin ever grown weighed 1,140 pounds.
• Pumpkins grown at Agua Linda Farm were planted in July.
The 9th Annual Fall Festival at Agua Linda Farm happens every weekend in October. We now have a staff of up to twenty people helping us out and last year we had 3,000 school kids here for their field trip! Hope we see all of you here!
www.AguaLindaFarm.net
Mama’s Pumpkin Pie
This recipe was my grandmother’s. She makes the best crust! In 2007, Better Homes and Gardens Magazine featured our farm in a beautiful article and published her recipe! We will be serving slices of it at our festival!
one 5 to 6 lb pie pumpkin(s)
2/3 cup sugar
1 ½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
¼ teaspoon ground ginger
3 slightly beaten eggs
one 5-oz can evaporated milk
½ cup half-and-half
Mama’s piecrust
Cut pumpkin into wedges, remove seeds and bake or microwave or steam until tender. Cool and remove rind. Puree and set in strainer for liquid to drain for one hour. You will need 2 cups of the puree for the pie. Whisk all ingredients together. Pour into unbaked, prepared crust. Bale for one hour.
Mama’s Piecrust
5 cups all purpose flour
4 teaspoons salt
1 lb lard (or 1 cup unsalted butter and 1 cup shortening)
Mix flour and salt. Use fork to mix in lard until pea size lumps and formed. At this stage you can refrigerate the mix for up to 3 months. It will make enough for 3 double crusts or 5 single crusts.
For 2 crusts: Use 2 ½ cups of mix with ¼ cup milk. Mix with fork. Shape into a ball. Divide in half. On floured surface, roll out one ball at a time into a 12 inch circle. Transfer to a 9” pie plate and crimp sides. Repeat with 2nd ball.
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