Posts Tagged: pumpkins

Growing pumpkins is like a beauty pageant

Commercial pumpkin production poses many of the same challenges as growing other gourds and squash plants, like cucumbers, luffas, zucchini and watermelons, wrote Reid Fujii in the Stockton Record.

Growers must watch out for overwatering, plant diseases, and pests like squash bugs and cucumber beetles, said Brenna Aegerter, UC Cooperative Extension advisor in San Joaquin County.

"Like one of the growers here told me, it's a beauty pageant," Aegerter said. "It's all about how they look; it's not how they taste."

While other states produce more pumpkins than California, particularly those grown for canning and pumpkin pies, the Golden State harvests the largest volume for the retail, fresh market, Aegerter said.

San Joaquin County leads the state in pumpkin production.

California farms grow pumpkins for fun, not profit

California is the nation's No. 2 pumpkin producer, but the crop is unusual among the state's agricultural commodities, according to an article in the Los Angeles Times by Diana Marcum. Pumpkin farms tend to be small and most pumpkins are sold directly to consumers by farmers at roadside stands or U-pick operations. California pumpkins are more commonly used for jack-o'-lanterns than pie filling.

"Pumpkins are really different," said Tom Turini, a farm advisor with the University of California Cooperative Extension in Fresno. "We're not trying to feed the world pumpkins. It's more about tradition, family. It's farmers just having a little fun."

Fungal Killer of Cypresses Originated in California
John Upton, New York Times

Last month, scientists from UC Berkeley and the National Research Council in Italy reported that they traced Seiridium, the fungus that causes cypress canker disease, back to Monterey cypresses in California. The fungus has caused a deadly epidemic in the world’s forests.

According to the article, Matteo Garbelotto, a forest pathologist at Berkeley and a member of the team of scientists, said that the problem began roughly a century ago when landowners started planting Monterey cypress trees in the California Central Valley and in Europe. Outside of their natural environment, they became weakened and more susceptible to infection. As the trees’ immune systems grew weaker, the fungus grew stronger, until it prevailed.

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