Every October, I get ready to go Trick or Treating with the kids. During the summer when the cousins get together, there is always a meeting of the minds to determine what the family is going to be this year. I’m not part of this discussion. I find out after the trip what the theme is going to be, and what they’ve all decided I will be!
If you haven’t figured it out yet, yes, I dress up for Halloween. As a mostly functioning adult. Why? Because the kids have a large time and it’s an excuse to be a kid again, alongside my kids.
What does this have to do with pumpkins? On October 31st I always think that it’s “get ready for Halloween” and then we’ll deal with the pumpkins. Every year I forget that it’s, “Deal with the pumpkins and we’ll get to Halloween, eventually.”
The pumpkin farmers start getting rid of their extra pumpkins the day of Halloween. They know they’ll only sell so many before the clock strikes the end of Halloween and the end of pumpkin sales. So every year I’m talking to the Mrs. planning on when to be at Grandmas, getting my costume, etc. Then Miguel reminds me we have X pallets of pumpkins to pick up. Oops.
This year, we had a pretty good haul of pumpkins. We’ve already been hauling loose pumpkins all month, but the big push is on October 31st. When I counted yesterday to see what we had, we already had 70 pallets of pumpkins, with probably another trailer load to go.
Pumpkins make a great winter time feed for us. They keep well, all the animals love them, and they are a natural dewormer. All good things, especially for a farm that feeds only produce, going into winter when produce production drops significantly.
These pumpkins will be here till the end of December or maybe even January if we are lucky. They will go to the pigs and the cows both.
Of course, we’ll root out a few eating pumpkins from the massive stack and take them over to the house for SWMBO. You do know there is a difference between eating pumpkins and carving pumpkins, don’t you? I don’t carve them, I’m all about eating them, because this is the time of year when pumpkin pies start filtering out of the kitchen. Mmm, pumpkin pie with home-made whipped cream!
What? People need deworming too. Just like dressing up above, it’s all for the children!