As the last peaches from local orchards fall to the ground, a different fruit can be picked up from the earth, just a half-mile down Armory Road on another family farm.
Coastal Point • Laura Ford:
Paul and Preston Parsons oversee about 50,000 pumpkins a year.
Paul Parsons gets to the farm around 9 in the mornings to aid about 14 other workers in the picking and selling from his family’s pumpkin patch.
“Wait until the dew is off the ground, so there won’t be any dirt on the pumpkins.”
“Find the orange ones, load ’em and ship ’em.”
“Check for mildew and spots from beetles.”
“Whatever you do, don’t let the stems bust off…”
These are just some of the lessons Parsons constantly remembers that have been passed down to him from his kin. Parsons is the third generation to be working the family farm.
His grandfather, Richard White, began the tradition with just a half-acre of pumpkins. Chickens were his grandfather’s main product and the pumpkins, Parsons remembered, “He would just sell them right out of his front yard.”
It was then Paul Parsons’s father, Preston Parsons, who expanded the pumpkin production and began shipping out the supply to brokers and supermarkets. Soon, a couple of pumpkins had turned into 55 acres and about 50,000 pumpkins per year.
Planting for this year’s crop began the second week in June. Maintenance of the land and equipment, however, began as soon as last year’s growing season was over. “That’s the thing about working a farm — you never get a day off,” said Paul Parsons. “It’s a commitment.”
Preston Parsons said they rotate the land every four years to ensure rich soil to promote the growth of their pumpkins, which come in “all shapes and sizes”
Though they have never entered any of the pumpkins they’ve grown in a “Largest Pumpkin” competition, Preston Parsons said they have had some notably large gourds on their farm. “They get to be up to a couple hundred pounds,” he said.
Paul Parsons said these “prize-winning pumpkins” are sometimes difficult to handle. When they are ready for “picking,” workers roll the monstrosities onto a tarp and then work together to get the pumpkin to the truck. “It usually takes four people,” Paul Parsons said.
The Parsons’ pumpkins may not have been entered in size competitions, but they will be featured in this year’s annual Punkin Chunkin World Championship in Millsboro on the weekend of Nov. 4-7. Preston Parsons said officials of the competition had already been to the farm with tape measurers and equipment to ensure the pumpkins are the correct size and weight for “chunking.”
“They are very precise,” he said of the measuring standards.
Paul Parsons said the first pumpkins develop at the end of August, and they continue to grow until November. The first batches of pumpkins get shipped to brokers in southern states. But as the autumn season arrives, a variety of pumpkins stay on the farm and are sold at the Parsons Farms produce stand.
The produce stand, which sells summer tomatoes, watermelons, Bennett Orchard’s peaches and “everything you could possibly want,” according to Paul Parsons, shifts gears in selection for the autumn months. The stand now offers chrysanthemums, winter squash, Indian corn, gourds and, of course, pumpkins.
Paul Parsons, who in charge of the roadside retail, said the produce stand has been on the farm for about 10 years. He remembered its humble beginnings, with just one wagon and a card table. Since then, the roadside display, currently open Friday through Monday from 10 a.m. until 6 p.m., has more then doubled in size.
Parsons Produce has hopes of expanding their retail even further. Plans are in the works to create a new 48-by-48-foot barn on the property to house the retail produce. “We are just waiting on some paperwork,” said Paul Parsons.
The Parsons said they will sell pumpkins until Oct. 31.
They then, once again, shift gears and begin planning ahead for the next season’s products.