2026 • Merkel, Texas This was the day I'd been waiting for. The first pumpkin seeds officially went into the ground. We'd measured the field, marked the rows, figured out irrigation, prepared the ground, bought seeds, made plans—and probably changed some of those plans a few times. Eventually, though, there's nothing left to do but plant. So we did. It's Kind of Crazy When You Think About It A pumpkin seed isn't very impressive. It's tiny. But if everything goes right, that o

2026 • Merkel, Texas Turns out, the first thing you grow when you're starting a pumpkin patch isn't a pumpkin. It's a field full of flags. Before we could plant anything, we had to take an empty piece of ground and figure out how the pumpkin patch was actually going to fit on it. So we measured. And measured some more. Then came the string, stakes, flags, row spacing, irrigation plans...and plenty of standing in the middle of the field trying to decide whether something looke

2026 • Merkel, Texas Before there were pumpkin rows, irrigation lines, seed packets, or flags all over a field, there was an idea. I wanted to grow a pumpkin patch. Not just a few pumpkins. I wanted to create a place where families could come in the fall, walk through the patch, find their pumpkin, take pictures, and hopefully make it one of those things they look forward to doing every year. I'm 15, and this is my first year doing any of this. I definitely don't have it all