Welcoming autumn by picking perfect pumpkins

Oct. 1—Tucked away off Terre View Drive, a simple farmstead is hard at work growing year-round produce and entrepreneurial spirit.

"The pumpkins look great," Washington State University Eggert Family Organic Farm manager Brad Jaeckel said in an interview "This year we have everything from mini pumpkins, pie pumpkins and all the way up to different sizes of jack-o'-lanterns. It's really affordable, our smallest pumpkin ranges from $2.50 all the way up to $20 for a big, beautiful jack-o'-lantern."

The Eggert farm started as a small-scale organic vegetable and fruit outfit in 2003, Jaeckel said. It is the second organic farm on WSU's Pullman campus, starting production in 2013. Jaeckel said the farm serves primarily as a teaching site for students in the organic and sustainable agricultural degree, educating students on how to produce vegetables and fruit in a certified organic system.

Garrett Waters, assistant manager at the farm, said anyone is welcome to work on the farm, but what brings students to the field is a 90-hour credit requirement that organic and sustainable agricultural students are required to meet in their college career.

Waters added he and Jaeckel try to teach students a bit of everything on the farm, from how to read the crops when they're ready for harvest to analyzing yield size and giving great customer service. Jaeckle said students are taught how to set up irrigation and support the farm, but more importantly, they are taught how to market and sell produce.

"It's a business," Jaeckel said. "Bringing the students into that gives them great real-life experience."

The farmstead holds a farm stand on site every Friday during the main growing season from June through October, Jaeckel said. From 3-6 p.m. people can walk up to the stand and buy produce directly, and by ordering on the online store, people can pre-purchase goods and pick up prepaid boxes during the farmstand times, Jaeckel added.

The U-pick pumpkin patch is a big event for the farm, Jaeckel said. It began in 2005 and the turnout is "amazing." He added the farm had some challenges through the COVID-19 pandemic but hasn't missed a year.

"We've been doing this for almost 20 years," Jaeckel said. "It's on a lot of the community's to-do list in the fall. We have a ton of families coming out with kids, and I feel like it's a mainstay outdoor fall harvest event for a lot of people."

Students have been growing pumpkins on the farm since May, Jaeckel said. Pumpkins are a long crop, he said — they seeded the crop in the greenhouse and were sown in June. Jaeckel said this year was a challenge planting crops in the field because of the cold, wet spring.

Waters said about 50% of their produce goes to the Moscow Food Coop, and the largest buyer from the farm is the local food bank. The farm also has good partnerships with the Council on Aging in Colfax, the Community Action Center in Pullman and the Coug Pantry on the WSU campus. Waters said the U-pick event will garner around $10,000 in sales, including both the produce stand and the pumpkin purchases.

WSU students Kyley Cyr and Rosetta Renwick said Friday they went to the farm to find pumpkins for their dorm because it was almost October. Cyr said usually her family grows their own pumpkins for fall, and Renwick said her family gets their pumpkin from their neighbors.

Cyr said her favorite part about pumpkin hunting is finding the perfect, roundest one. Renwick said she likes the experience of browsing through the field.

The WSU Eggert Family Organic Farm will host U-pick pumpkin events today and next weekend — the pumpkin patch is open for picking from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. today; 3-6 p.m. Friday; and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Oct. 8. Along with the pumpkin patch, there will be a farm stand during U-pick times, with an array of fall crops including onions, shallots, potatoes, winter squash and more. The farm can be found on Animal Science Road behind the WSU Bear Research center.

To learn more about the WSU Eggert Family Organic Farm, visit their website at css.wsu.edu/organicfarm.

Pearce can be reached at epearce@dnews.com or on Twitter @Emily_A_Pearce.