By Deb Kroon
Review staff writer
For twelve year old Ella Wempen, a seventh grader at Adrian Middle School, and her brother Drew, age ten and a fourth grader at Adrian Elementary School, raising pumpkins has become more than just a hobby. For the past three years, these young entrepreneurs have been raising their own pumpkins with a little help from their parents, Dave and Kristi. They usually plant their pumpkins around Mother’s Day, they told me. They purchase the seeds from a friend of their dad’s who raises five acres of pumpkins near Algona, Iowa. “ We buy at least twelve different varieties each year. Last year we planted some pumpkins with warts on them,” Drew explained. “We try to find different ones, but not too weird. They might not sell around here.” I assured them I love weird pumpkins!
This year’s seed produced some larger pumpkins than they had planted before, along with some white ones and a new variety for them called “Tondo” pumpkins. This variety produces a green and white striped pumpkin that, as it ages, turns to an orange and green stripe. They sold very well for the Wempens.
Ella and Drew walked me through the process they go through each year. Their pumpkin patch is 60’ x 130’. “It makes Mom sad,” quipped Ella, grinning at her mom. “Our pumpkin patch is bigger than our house!” (It’s bigger than my house too). Dave does the plowing, as the two aren’t quite old enough to drive the tractor. The next step is to stake out the patch. They plant in rows, approximately two plants per foot, leaving 6 feet between each variety they plant. The stakes are marked with the variety. “Dad will till probably one more time after planting,” said Ella. “Then we take over because the vines get too big for the tiller.” From that point they weed by hand, until the vines fill in. “It’s been pretty easy this year. With all the rain the weeds pull right out.” If they don’t get the rain, they water the plants with a watering can. Thank goodness for the rain!
“Last year,” Kristi said. “Drew asked Ella what she thought about the possibility of donating a percentage of their proceeds to a family who could use the extra cash. After they decided it was what they wanted to do, Drew came and asked me what I thought. I was very proud of their decision and told him absolutely.” When questioning Drew farther about this, he told Kristi that he had gotten the idea from her office Christmas party the year before. He liked the idea of doing something for someone else.
By mid to late September, the pumpkins were ready to harvest. Kristi explained how they had filled the flatbed with the pumpkins and brought it into town. For the past three years, with the permission of Doug Archer, Drew and Ella (and dad) have pulled their wagon full of pumpkins into town and sold them on the corner of Doug’s business. They brought it in on Saturday and by Tuesday afternoon they had sold out of everything except for a few gourds. It has turned out to be a great place for them. This year was the fastest turn around they had experienced.
Last year after the pumpkins were sold, 15% of the money they made went to one local family they thought could use the extra help. The rest of the proceeds went into their respective college funds. This year, they are going to donate again. “We know who we want to give the gift to this year, but we haven’t done it yet,” said Ella. Drew added, “This year was our best so far!”
Ella and Drew were already talking about next year and maybe planning a little as to what varieties they should repeat. The bigger ones are what people around here seem to want. They will have to plant those for sure.
In this day and age, it’s hard for people to donate part of what they make just to help to someone else out. Yet these two young people have done exactly that. “They make us really proud!” Kristi said about their children. We could all learn a lesson on giving to others by the example set by these two young entrepreneurs. Giving comes from the heart, and the Wempen kids have a big heart!
