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Wow! Where did the time go! This October just flew by! After Matt got in on October 3, I got busy preparing for the bridal shower on October 10. It turned out to be a gorgeous fall day, which was a real blessing considering all the rain that we’ve had this fall. We made a bride and groom scarecrow couple for the shower. My sister Bev carved out pumpkins to use as containers to put flower arrangements in and Lisa helped to bake 8 pumpkin pies. We had family coming in from all directions and so it was a fun family reunion as well as a shower. We had the shower under the tent at the farm, surrounded by lots of pumpkin patch customers. It was a regular three-ring circus with a clown wandering around, a dulcimer player and llamas in the lower yard. Paul ran hayrides and kids played in the cornbox, but it never really interfered with the shower. I think Lisa and Matt really enjoyed themselves and were showered with many very nice gifts. It will be remembered as a one-of-a-kind event.
  
  
There was no break after the bridal shower to catch our breath. Paul started two solid weeks of school field trips. He talked to the kids about the farm animals and what is involved in raising them. Patty Anderson, our local cooperative extension agent, came down and helped with the really large groups. She taught an activity where the kids used math to weigh and measure pumpkins and then count the pumpkin seeds. All the kids went home with a pumpkin from the patch. During this time, we had a hard frost. With the leaves wilted down, we were surpised at all the pumpkins we really had. Paul kept saying all summer that he thought the crop was small. Was he ever wrong!
The next weekend, Oct0ber 17, was to be our Flinger Festival. Unfortunately, the weather was very bad (even had snow) on Saturday and the other guys backed out. Our son Ryan and Somayeh, his wife, came in and so did Jon, our youngest son. They were hoping to see some friendly pumpkin flinging competition, but still had a good time flinging their own pumpkins. On Sunday, the sun did come out and I was happy because I had scheduled a flight over the farm to take pictures. It was wonderful to see the fall foliage and pumpkin fields from the air. Paul even had a wagonload of customers up at the trebuchet and they waved vigorously for the camera. It was great to have the whole family together and it allowed Mike to get a family portrait for our Farm and Ranch Living diary that we’re keeping for next October.
  
  
Afer Jon and Ryan left, we were still busy picking pumpkins and taking care of our customers. This is a business driven by the weather. When the sun was out, the customers came out in droves. When it rained, we sat around twiddling our thumbs. Paul got some wholesale orders which helped a lot.
We finally got our Slinger in action. We tried once and it didn’t work out. But the second time, it was finally ready for heavy duty action. And it got some in these last two weeks. The kids are launching small gourds and small white pumpkins. They can really sail a long distance.
Our final fling this weekend was Not-So-Scary Night Hayrides. We decided to do them Oct 29-31. Matt was a big help in creating pumpkin people for the route. We sure missed him after he headed for home on Thursday morning. He was a huge help this October. We’ll even miss his dog Micah, who endeared herself to us. Anyway, the hayrides were fun even though we didn’t get huge crowds out. The weather was cold but dry. Jill, our elementary librarian, is an excellent storyteller and she came out to tell stories on the wagon. We also had our boogey man out haunting the wagon as it rolled along. Friday evening was our best night with three trips through the haunted woods and fields. I rode on the trip this evening and enjoyed it so much.
   
  
It’s nice to be finished. We’ve had a lot of good times and made many new friends this past six weeks or so. Now we can sit and plan for next fall as the weather gets colder and colder and the snow begins to fly. Who knows what crazy ideas we’ll come up with for 2010.
Yours until the pumpkins turn orange again.
Linda
What a weekend! School was closed for the Autum Leaf Festival in Clarion. It’s a major event in this part of the country. Friday is the Farmers and Crafters Sale and Saturday is the ALF Parade. Both events draw thousands and thousands of people, partly because ALF is combined with Clarion University’s Homecoming. For Friday, we had a vendor booth in the Catholic school gym, which we set up on Thursday evening. I don’t enjoy being outside on the street because the weather can be bad. Unfortunately this year the weather was really bad. It rained on and off most of the day and by late afternoon, it was pouring. While we were inside, warm and dry, it drove away the customers and so our sales were down as well. Another disappointing day.
  
But the weather cleared up for Saturday and we had good business at the farm. Most came in after the parade in Clarion. Paul got to take out about 6 hayrides and the pumpkins were flying out the door. We enjoyed talking to folks from all over, especially the ones who came and stayed for hours. The cornbox was a big hit as usual and parents seemed to be content just to let their kids play while they sat on the benches and relaxed. The hay mountain, dubbed Paul’s Peak, was another favorite spot and after so many kids had crawled all over it, it started to look slightly eroded. Our friend Bill Stumpf is an excellent storyteller and he came to entertain our guests. He tells tall tales about Gib Wilson from the oil rush days in Franklin and Oil City. He had us all laughing.
  
Sunday started out slow because the weather couldn’t make up its mind. It looked like rain again, but it held off and we had some brave souls venture out. Actually for being in the 50s, we had a good crowd. Paul ran about 4 hayrides and we again enjoyed visitng with all the local folks who came out. I went on the last hayride with my friends Mary Ann and Rodger who came with their grandson Carter. I couldn’t help but notice that the leaves are starting to show really nice color now. The splashes of color among all the green leaves are so vibrant.
Our pumpkin painting contest was today. We had two contestants and Matt and Danielle painted pumpkins as well. Our winner got a $10.00 gift certificate for our store and she seemd very pleased. I decided to do it again the next couple Sundays. I guess we need to adverrtise our contests more.
Our son Matt came in from Arizona on Saturday morning to help us during the whole month of October. What a Godsend! He is so full of great ideas and has the energy to make them happen. Hopefully, we can get some more signs painted while he is home. His fiance, Lisa, is flying in on Wednesday and I’m having a bridal shower for her next Saturday at the Pumpkin Patch. It should be a good time, if the weather cooperates.
Hoping for a sunny, warm day,
Linda
We are also taking orders for whole fresh roasting chickens and delicious lamb. Just ask Paul during your visit, call or email. We’ll tell you all about it.
Click to Contact us!
Entry fee is $5.00
Participants will receive a pumpkin, paints and brushes
1 -3:30 PM, contestants paint their pumpkins.
The winners will be announced at 4 PM.
The prize will be a gift certificate of $10.00 for our store.
There will be three categories:
Elementary-12 and under
High school-age 13-18
Adults.
Where does time go? Here we a full eight days into our season and I haven’t had a minute top get to this blog. Anyway, Paul opened last Saturday. The weather was gorgeous. Everything was set to go, but we had a very small crowd. He was so disappointed because he loves to see the kids enjoying the hayrides, the animals and his cornbox. And I think that he loves shooting off pumpkins with the Flinger. We came to find out that there were three big festivals in the area that were hard to compete with. Plus, it seems like its too early for fall decorating. So we kept on stocking the store and adding to our decorations in hopes of a better turnout the next weekend. We were READY! And then it rained all weekend. I mean POURED. So we had even lighter crowds than before. You can’t control the weather, so we’re going to hope for sunny days next Saturday and Sunday and keep on working.
Our barnyard zoo is adorable. We have a 2 week old Holstein bull calf. He is so cute and has to be bottle fed. It’s comical to see his quart baby bottle with its huge nipple. Our helper Alex wants to name him Rudy, so that will be his name. Paul also has a lamb that he is bottle feeding. The barn is a real nursery. Then we got some fancy chickens on loan from a friend. One has a mop of feathers on its head. Another one has beautiful brown feather with speckles. Homer and Jethro, the piglets are starting to grow and snort like crazy when you walk in to the barn. It is a zoo!
Well, I have to go dry out.
Linda
It’s 2 days before Opening Day and things are hopping at the Stahlman Farm. Paul hired help this week and last week to pull things into shape and the farm is being transformed. It’s amazing what some mowing and trimming can do for the looks of the place. The pumpkins are pretty much ready. We’re not going to have huge quantities like last year, but we’ll have enough to sell. All sizes, shapes and colors are being picked this week and they are just beautiful.
   
On Saturday, we had a crew of helpers in to raise our new 30′ x 30′ tent. Well, its new to us. The tent is a used one that we were able to get for a reasonable sum. Since Paul allowed the Clarion County Fair to use it in July, it needed to be scrubbed. Using a mixture of Murphy’s Oil Soap and 100% Mineral Spirits, they went all over it and got it looking pretty good. Raising it was quite the cooperative effort. I could see why Paul was wanting a bunch of strong guys around. They did a lot of tugging and pulling to get it taunt enough to withstand the wind. It was an exciting moment when the center pole went up and the whole thing took shape. We’ll be able to put all our picnic tables , the corn box and our entertainers under it.
    
We got two piglets yesterday for our barnyard zoo and I named them Homer and Jethro. Nice farm names. We’ll be getting a very young Holstein bull calf today. Paul will be bottle feeding it for awhile. Since we had around 20 lambs born this summer, Paul has lots of cuties to choose from. Penny, the nanny goat, and her two babies, Pumpkin and Petunia, will also be included in the zoo. Unfortunately, we found Pete, the billy goat, drowned in the pond on Saturday. What a mystery! We’ve never ever heard of animals drowning, at least on this farm. Paul had him running with the sheep this summer to curb his fathering instincts. We all decided that the sheep hated him so much that they pushed him in. Who knows? It might be true.
Got to get back to work.
Linda
Wow, It’s hard to believe that it’s been over a month since I wrote in this blog. What a month it’s been! Our son, Ryan, got married in Reno, NV, on August 1. That was a fun trip. Besides the beautiful wedding, we visited old Virginia City and gorgeous Lake Tahoe. Also, I finished up my chemo treatments yesterday. They started in March and were every other week. So now, they’re finished in time for the Pumpkin Patch season and hopefully I can keep up with Paul.
We’ve had a very wet and cool summer (my kind of weather), but unfortunately, its not the greatest for crops. About the middle of August, we finally hit a 90 degree day and we’ve had a fair amount of sunshine. This has really brought on the pumpkin crop, to Paul’s great relief. Looks like the crop will be good and we should have a nice variety of pumpkins, gourds and squash for our customers. Another crop that we weren’t planning on were the 20 lambs born this summer. Normally, our lambs come in February but someone got a little rambunctious this spring and we had lambs popping out everyday for awhile. Oh well, the kids will love seeing them with their mothers. Another unexpected event was the birth of another baby goat. Pumpkin was born last fall and he got a little sister, Petunia, this spring. After that the Billy Goat Pete got moved to the sheep field pronto.
    
We’re pretty excited about this fall. We have a nice line-up of entertainment for the weekends. Phyllis Howard will be back several times this year with her dulcimer and Bill Stumpf, our wonderful storyteller, will be back on two different Saturdays. We lined up a food vender for both Saturday and Sunday and may have a kettle corn concesson as well on a few days.
On October 17-18, we plan to host a pumpkin flinging festival. Paul has been in conctact with several area guys who are intrigued with the idea of a friendly little match-up of machines. It could get interesting. Our sons couldn’t resist missing this event and all three will be here. Every mother’s dream!
On the last three nights,Oct 29-31, we are going to run night hayrides from 6 to 9. They will run on the hour and hopefully, we’ll have some kid-friendly spooks in the woods to liven things up a bit.
We’ve also been adding some improvements. One big addition is the new road through the woods for the hayrides. It is much more gradual than the old road. which was too much of a thrill for Paul. The Frogtown Flinger is going to have some additions and we’re to have two much improved Slingers down in the farmyard. We’re going to put an old cooler out in the field with a target for the slingers. Another exciting development was the purchase of a 30′ x 30′ circus tent. All of our picnic tables should fit comfortably underneath it to provide shade for the sunny days and shelter for the drizzly days (let’s hope that there are not going to be too many of those). Yet to be accomplished, but in the works, are additonal lights, a water system for the shed and a hay mountain for the kids to climb on. We also hope to have more signs painted for various areas
The next two weeks are going to be extremely busy around the farm. Paul is working to hard to get the second crop hay in. Once we start working on the Patch , there won’t be time to make hay. We’re happy that most of our employees are coming back this fall. They did a good job for us last year and will know the ropes already. I still remember how befuddling the first day was last year. We were making it up as we went. Hopefully, September 19 this fall will much better.
Linda (Hanging on for the ride)
Make sure to check out our new and improved home page! www.paulspumpkinpatch.com
The pictures from last year have never looked so good!
 COMING SOON:
Painted Pumpkin Contest judged October 24!
Plenty of Prizes
Contest detail to be posted
With all the rain we’ve had recently, the pumpkins are growing like crazy. Paul was smart and tilled them before we got into this wet spell.
 Paul gets to use his new tiller. So this year, we don’t have the terrible weed problem that we had last year That’s not to say that there aren’t any weeds.
 Tyler and Shane make the weeds disappear. We hired some good teenage workers to pull weeds between the rows the other day. They dillently worked one day at it from 9 AM to 5 PM. and got the worst of them.
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