Pumpkins Galore!

We thought we were doing well collecting five free pumpkins recently from a local farmer after Halloween.

Today, we hit the absolute pumpkin trove: a much larger farm stand, about seven miles up the road. They do an enormous volume of business each year, on a family owned parcel of land, but we don't drive that direction very often. This morning, I noticed a sign in front of their stand: "Pumpkins. $10 per pickup load." I took a closer look, and realized they had more than two full hay wagons loaded with pumpkins that never found a home before Halloween.

On my way home that afternoon with the kids, we stopped and chatted with the lady. I explained that our pickup truck died a few years back, but that I'd like to take the equivalent number of pumpkins home in our minivan. I gave her ten bucks, and packed as many pumpkins as I could around the kids and my groceries. She said that wasn't even half a pickup truckload, and that I should feel free to come back later to get as many more as I could carry.

We got home, unloaded the first load, and tossed a great many to the sheep and chickens. They were quickly all over their new treats.

I went back out, van empty of kids and groceries, determined to maximize my next load. Here's what I got in the back:

And here's what I got in the passenger compartment:

I could've loaded more, but didn't want to over-do it.

She told me they nearly always have way too many pumpkins, and mark them down like this the day after Halloween every year. You can guess who will be first in line next year, with his minivan emptied of all interior seats.

Our animals are going to be feasting for a long time.