Pumpkin Trucking

In a world where everything from Oreo cookies to Ramen noodles is suddenly inundated with pumpkin spice and where pumpkins are everywhere you turn, it was inevitable that I would get at least one Pumpkin Spice flavored load.
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I usually like my job, but sometimes, I get a load that I really enjoy. One where I go someplace new, see things I have never seen before and learn some new things.

I have always been fascinated with the process of things.  From start to finish, how they are made, how they are grown, where they come from.

This week I got to to pick up a load of pumpkins, from a large pumpkin grower in Illinois, and take them to a small local farm, in Missouri..



I picked up at Frey Farms in Keenes Illinois.  Frey Farms had over 3500 acres of pumpkins this year, 400 of them in Keenes.  So I was picking up at a 400 acre pumpkin patch.

It was fascinating to watch as the field hands picked the pumpkins and loaded them into “pumpkin buses.”








 

The buses were then driven to the processing facility where they were unloaded, washed and sorted by size
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Then they are boxed up and loaded onto trucks,







 



Once I was loaded I headed to Mikus Farms in Wright City Missouri.



Mikus Farms operates Pumpkins Galore, a seasonal spot where friends and families can see the animals, pick their own pumpkins, shoot the pumpkins cannons, and enjoy a a fun outing.

 

 

Dave Mikus explained to me, as they unloaded my truck, that usually they grow all the pumpkins they need, but this year with the flooding in Missouri all spring, they lost a big part of their crop and ended up having to supplement with locally grown pumpkins.

 

It was a great day for me.
I got to see a big farm in operation, visit a small farm, and even stopped to pet the horses.
Some days I really love my job.