By Clint Thompson
Pumpkin plantings have begun in North Georgia. One farmer is hopeful for another successful season that can maybe take some of the sting out of a disappointing peach year.
Drew Echols, owner of Jaemor Farms in north Georgia, provided his outlook for the upcoming season which started with last week’s initial plantings.
“Pumpkins are one of those things, they’re about like Christmas trees, there’s not a season for them right now. But they finished off last year real strong. Demand is high, the freight is high and all of that. We’re optimistic for a good growing year. We got some much-needed moisture over the weekend. We were real bad dry, but we got some relief for planting. So, we’re ready,” Echols said.
Two inches of rainfall over the weekend provided a boost for the plants.
“It takes a good bit of moisture to get them up. It’s really hard to irrigate them up, especially with drip. That’s all we got is drip irrigation. It’s hard to get them up with drip especially if it’s real hot. After that, the drip will sustain them, but getting them up, you really need some moisture in the ground,” Echols said. “We got close to two inches Saturday and Sunday. It was real slow and exactly what we needed.”
Echols hopes to be halfway through planting his 175 acres by the end of this week and be completely done by the end of the following week.