Whitley teacher creates ‘agritourism’ with local pumpkin farm

J&K Pumpkin Patch owner Jill Leach holds a wolf pumpkin, a type off the vegetable particular suited to being used as a jack-o-lantern because of its large, tough stem.

It’s in the heat of July when her muscles are aching and the heat is unbearable that Jill Leach questions whether her decision to start a pumpkin farm two years ago, almost on a whim, was a good one.

In August, September and October is when it all pays off.

"When the kids start coming here and they are laughing and having a ball and they hug you when you leave … yeah, that makes it worth it," Leach says smiling.

Leach, along with her husband Jerry, are owners of J&J Pumpkin Patch, located off Henry Barton Road near Goldbug. Founded last year, the pumpkin farm is in its second season and offers 28 different varieties of pumpkins and a good selection of decorative gourds.

A mathematics teacher at Whitley County Middle School by day, Leach said she started moonlighting as a pumpkin farmer by chance. She’d taken a soil sample from one of her hay fields to the local Agriculture Extension Service Office to be evaluated. She was asked if the soil was going to be used for some kind of crop, perhaps pumpkins.

"I thought, hmmm. Pumpkins, I can do that," Leach said. "I told my husband over dinner one night that I think we should make our farm more productive; I wanted to grow pumpkins. Mid way up to his mouth with the fork, he looked at me funny and said, ‘you want to do what?’"

The couple planted an acre and a half of pumpkins last year and sold through her entire crop of 1,300 by Oct. 20.
"We had a really great crop. We were turning people away," Leach said.

This year, she said she planted about two acres of pumpkins and has close to 2,000 grown. Also, the farm has made some improvements adding a place easily accessible for children to view and pet horses and other animals. And a big attraction is a pumpkin slingshot.

Leach said growing pumpkins is different than many other vegetables. The space required is one main difference. Another is the prevalence of certain beetles that bore into vine plants and kill pumpkins. She was able to control the later problem by obtaining a commercial spraying license with the help of the Extension Service.

"Because I’m trying to get as many pumpkins as I can in the space I have, I tend to grow my rows closer. That means I have to do everything by hand, spraying, weeding, tilling … everything."

But the result is worth it. J&J Pumpkin Patch has varieties you won’t find in most stores like Wolf Pumpkins or "Cotton Candy" pumpkins.

Leach said she’s been to tourist-focused pumpkin farms in other counties and thought it would be a good idea to have one in Whitley County and keep local business right here.

"It’s agritourism," she said. "I’m trying to promote Whitley County and keep our kids home and keep the business local and help the county grow."

J&J Pumpkin Patch is open to the general public Monday through Friday after 4:00 p.m., and from 8:00 a.m. until dark on weekends. For more information, 261-7669 or 344-1843 or check out https://sites.google.com/site/jjpumpkinpatch.