"The Great Pumpkin" arrived early at Ken Finley's garden
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Ken Finley poses by a pumpkin with a name etched onto it. Finley used a small screwdriver to scratch the name about 30 days before the pumpkin was to be harvested. "Next year," he said, "I hope every student at Meadowlark can come out to etch their name on a pumpkin, then later pick their own personalized pumpkin for Halloween."
Ken Finley raises produce in an area along the Milk River near the Chinook Water Treatment Plant. The last day of September he held a Customer Appreciation Day. It was a near perfect fall day with mild temperatures and sunny skies. Finley said, "I've been wanting to give back to the folks who support my vegetable stand all summer. This seemed like a good weekend to do it and pumpkins are the seasonal vegetable of choice this time of year."
Weather forecasters were predicting a dramatic cold snap during the next few days, not good for pumpkins in the field. Once already Finley had covered the pumpkins with a frost blanket, but, "It never frosted. I think this frost they're predicting now will be the real thing." Hopeful to get the regular sized pumpkins from the field and into the hands of excited kids, Finley moved the 'lunkers,' the 100+ pound Atlantic Giant variety, into his greenhouse and will keep them heated if the cold gets severe.
Asked how he got the idea for his first ever Customer Appreciation Day, Finley said, "I've been wanting to do this for some time." It had been 15 or so years since he raised pumpkins. He explained, "My plan was to raise enough pumpkins that every kid at Meadowlark Elementary could have one for Halloween." He figured he'd given away about 150 on Saturday and added, "Folks passed the word around about the appreciation day by word of mouth. Some told me they would announce it at church on Sunday so likely I'll give away the rest tomorrow." It appeared he had about 50 nice sized pumpkins still waiting for a home.
As a future project Finley said he has talked to the principal at Meadowlark about doing a field trip to the garden next year. A NorthWestern Energy employee was checking power lines near the garden and told the gardener about etching pumpkins. Ken explained, "If you scratch a name on the pumpkin about a month before they are picked, the pumpkin heals the scratch so the name is permanent on the pumpkin's skin. I would like to have each kid at the school scratch their name on a pumpkin, then when it's time to pick the pumpkins, each kid could have their own personalized pumpkin.
"Within the next few years," Finley said, "My plan is to raise a garden and give it all away-to the Chinook Senior Center, Food Pantry and other local feeding programs." He mentioned other gardeners, like John Shelstad and John Herndon, who both raised huge gardens over the years and gave most of the produce away. Herndon left the area after he retired. Finley said, "John Herndon was still gardening at age 96." Retiree John Shelstad raises a huge garden that he donates to organizations around Chinook. Shelstad said a few years ago, "I've been gardening for 70+ years and I still love to hoe." Finley said, "I hope I can continue gardening for a long time."
(l-r) Daniel, Boone, Kadie and Rutledge Dahl, from Chinook, make their choices for carving pumpkins during Ken Finley's Customer Appreciation Day. Finely said, "I wanted to give something back to the customers who visit my vegetable stand during the summer." About 150 pumpkins were distributed during the day. The last of the season's tomatoes were also given to customers.
Several families with little kids in tow arrived at the pumpkin patch during the appreciation event. The kids were excited and immediately ran to pick out a pumpkin. Finley said, "Part of the reason I raised pumpkins is to see the look on the faces of kids when they come to the patch." It was interesting one three year old was totally disinterested in the pumpkins, but stood pointing at the little farm tractor Ken uses to move the pumpkins. Hey, at Ken's patch there's a little something for everyone.
Linus, the character in the "Peanuts" cartoon strip made famous by Charles Schulz, would have been proud of what he saw in Finley's garden. Each year, in the cartoon strip, Linus waits the night before Halloween in the pumpkin patch with a sign welcoming The Great Pumpkin. Unfortunately, Linus has been waiting since 1959 and The Great Pumpkin has never showed.
Ken Finley, Chinook's own Great Pumpkin, was sitting in his side by side, enjoying the squeals of excitement as the kids made their choices of pumpkins. As an aside, Ken added, "I also like to see the excitement on parents' faces as well." Here's hoping there will be many more fall seasons when The Great Pumpkin comes back to Finley's garden.
