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 Halloween
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including the U.S.A., where they really know how to get out and howl for
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For Area Farmers, `Great
Pumpkin' is no myth at all:
Halloween favorite is a big moneymaker for local growers
2000-10-08 / by Dean A. Radford
KENT -- Those orange orbs lazing away in South King County
fields soak up the sun for weeks, then turn into green as a major cash crop for their
growers.
``In general, for a number of farmers it's the difference
between profit and loss,'' said Steve Evans, a farm specialist for King County. ``It's the
last big crop that helps them through the winter.''
More farmers are growing pumpkins because of the potential to
turn a profit. The costs are lower, in part because the buyers often do the harvesting.
Typically, farmers only receive 10-20 cents for every $1
their products cost at a grocery store. The rest goes to middlemen and profit margins.
``The farmer gets the full value if you buy direct,'' said
Evans, adding that the consumer gets a better deal, too. Growers usually charge by the
pound or by the size of the pumpkin.
Pumpkins don't make an official Top 40 list of crops grown in
Washington, so there are few statistics about their production and market value. Nor does
the pumpkin have its own growers' association.
Every five years, though, the U.S. Department of Agriculture
does a census of the 300 or so farm crops grown in Washington state.
The 1997 census found pumpkins growing on 1,700 acres in the
state. Skagit County was the leading producer, with 485 acres, followed closely by Pierce
County at 410. King County was a distant third, at 145 acres spread across 22 farms.
In 1997, the total market value of agriculture products
produced in King County was estimated at about $94 million, with more than half coming
from dairy products. In King County, pumpkins probably rank in the top five crops, behind
such staples as lettuce and sweet corn, also specialties in South King County.
Mike Carpinito is arguably the king of the pumpkin growers in
the Kent Valley. He grows more than half the pumpkins produced yearly in King County.
He likes what he sees this year, thanks to lots of sun and
little rain this spring and summer.
``The quality is wonderful,'' he said, perhaps the best in
years.
Cool, wet weather can slow the ripening process, and pumpkins
may not take on their golden glow until Halloween. A hot streak, like one two Augusts ago,
tends to slow pumpkins' growth. This year was somewhere in between.
``The pumpkins look like they have really taken off. It's an
excellent crop,'' said Jim Kropf, Northwest district director of the Washington State
University Cooperative Extension Service.
Carpinito, a long-time Kent farmer, expects this year to
harvest about 2,000 tons of pumpkins grown on 80 acres. He won't place a value on his
pumpkin crop, though.
Pumpkins are in Carpinito's blood, so to speak.
His family got its start selling pumpkins on Kent's Central
Avenue 40 years ago, at what is now one of the largest farm stands in the county.
Carpinito's fields are easily visible from Highway 167 and
South 277th Street, at the base of the Kent East Hill. Besides supplying his U-pick
location and his own stand on Central Avenue, Carpinito ships his pumpkins to grocery
stores locally and to Alaska, where they're sought after ``because they are a treat. There
is no question they want ours,'' he said.
Farmers now trade on the fact that Halloween is considered
the second biggest retail holiday, right behind Christmas.
``Halloween is becoming significantly larger in the scope of
people's spending,'' Carpinito said. To his delight, ``families are buying many more
pumpkins for their children than they did 30 years ago.''
It's not as delightful for the pumpkins. They're gutted and
set afire, then left to rot on the front porch.
South County Journal
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Every
year, Halloween enthusiasts anxiously await the retail
industry to begin their Halloween season and see who's
first to stock products for the spooky season. Many
stores begin stocking Halloween products as early as
July! |
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