You never know who is going to show up! I was driving by the pumpkin patch earlier this summer,
and look who I saw.



He was just sauntering along, enjoying the day - until he saw me. Then he arched his back and gave me his tough guy look. I don't see these guys very often, so it was quite a surprise!

I got a call from a friend the other day. He just said that I had come to mind, and he was lending me encouragement - sorely needed, BTW. You know, life gets hard and we face things we'd rather not - but you never know who is going to show up!

So the encouragement for the day is not the answer to your dilemma - but it is encouragement to keep going, press on, and persevere if that's what it takes. You never know who is going to show up!

So it's about time for the next update on the Stumbo pumpkin!

Here's my son Josiah, late at night a few weeks back, giving the dear pumpkin plant a drink.



And here it is, growing away!



Come on, Pumpkin!

I've always been amazed by the abundance of life. Whether it is out at the farm (where 13 acres can grow 150 tons of field corn) or in a 10'x10' garden plot (where zuchini can take over the world!), you just can't stop it. Think about all of the grass clippings, and weeds, and tree & shrub clippings that come off of an ordinary yard.

Life can get hard, and pressures can mount. We can find our world troubled within, and troubled without. But life just continues to spring forth. The flower bulbs push through the earth in the spring, the farmer plants his bean seed and it begins to sprout, and nature sings, seemingly mindless of the crisis that surround it.

Or is it "mindless?" Maybe nature knows of our situation, understands the pain, and wants to surround us with the abundance; the unrelenting force of new life springing up mocks the forces that seek to destroy and discourage us. Maybe it wants to remind us that whether we seek to control it or not, beauty will continue to flourish and come, we are not alone, and something is growing in us as well. We can't stop it. Life continues to push forth. May all things beautiful arise!

Speaking of something beautiful, here is my wife in the cornfield - as it grows!



It was about 90 degrees outside, and I was feeling the "heat" - it was time to cut the Corn Maze, and the corn was growing fast! Jennifer got some childcare for the kids, donned her hiking boots, and came out to help me get it done.



Here she is, "weapon" in hand! We won't give it all away, but there is paint involved! ...and flags.



By the time we finished almost a week later (with some messing around in-between) the corn was about 2 feet tall. It almost overcame us, because when it get's too tall its hard to see what you're doing out there. That whole field just continues to push forth life, and we could not stop it! But in the end, we did overcome and "get-er-done!"

Once upon a time there was a little pumpkin that was different from all the rest.

It's interesting how we have our "once upon a times" - and oh, how healthy it is not to live there! Life is not found in the past, but in the present. And this pumpkin is an example of it from one of my friends.

John was an ultra-Marathon runner. I used to see him down at the YMCA. I did not ask him to race, I was smarter than that! Nearing two years ago, he started feeling ill - and within a week was headed to the hospital, where he stayed for weeks or months. He went from running "umpteen" miles a day to not even being able to lift his head. I suppose it is no fun for him to read this and recount the times. He nearly died - some sort of immune system problem immobilized him in ICU. As he slowly recovered, he found that he couldn't swallow; the muscles in his throat had ceased to work correctly. Some year and a half later - you'd have to read his story on his blog - he regained his ability to swallow, and continues to improve.

I was talking to John Stumbo one day and he said something about taking all of his calories through his mouth now, and only needing his feeding tube for hydration. Happy day! A cause for celebration! He had 3 or 4 cases of extra formula - the stuff he used to pour down his feeding tube to survive. So I said, "John, why don't take a few cans of that and feed one of my Giant Pumpkins with it - and see what happens!"

So we went out into the Pumpkin Patch to choose a likely candidate.

Here is a picture of Stumbo, the Giant Pumpkin!



John and Joanna (his wife) had brought a couple of their friend's kids with them out to the farm that day.



And here they are, feeding the pumpkin!



We'll have to follow this pumpkin along, and see how it grows!

Hi all, FarmerJeff here. We did a little growing this summer.
I suppose it's a little bit after the fact, but I thought I'd show you how things all began...

Well, now - what do we have here?


If you take a larger look at life, you get this -


It took about 650,000 corn seeds to plant that field, if I'm doing my math correctly.



And I have no idea how many grass seeds it took to plant this lawn. Maybe I can find out for next time! That lawn does have a purpose, BTW. Do some of you recognize the field at the end of that Irrigation System, where you picked some blueberries this summer? This is just south of our Farm Store and Berry Plant.

Now here's a Pumpkin Patch, though it doesn't look like much at this point -


And this, a special pumpkin that I'll tell you about in a few days!


Hope you all had fun growing something this summer, even if it was "growing some fun"
along the way!

FarmerJeff