Johnson County
Good grief, it’s the not-so Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown
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Michael Calabria, resident of the Caddo Grove area north of Joshua, hoped for a garden full of Great Pumpkins this month. Because of drought and heat, he wound up with Great Jackolanterns. Pete Kendall/Times-Review
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JOSHUA — The Great Pumpkin is unlikely to find another Great Pumpkin on Halloween when he visits Michael Calabria in Walden Estates.
He may have to settle for a Great Jackolantern. Or some okra and corn.
“As you can see, my pumpkin crop didn’t do that great,” Calabria said with a chuckle.
He’s being modest. He has pumpkins, even a dozen or so ripe ones. They’re just not as large as his seed supplier suggested they’d be.
Calabria doesn’t blame the seeds, by the way.
“I think the drought and heat were the primary reasons they didn’t grow much,” Calabria said. “That and my inexperience. And this is probably the wrong area.”
He may be right about the geography. No less an authority on farming than Cleburne High Schoool vocational ag teacher Barney McClure said he’s not aware of a commercial pumpkin growing venture in Johnson County.
Texas AgriLife Extension agent Chris Schneider said Calabria had called him seeking advice on pumpkin-patch weed killers. Calabria is still trying to control the weeds. They may be a lost cause now. Kind of like the pumpkins.
“This is the first year I’ve done a garden,” he said. “I got a couple of hundred pounds of manure down, and I tried some spray fertilizer. That was it. I didn’t do a soil test.
“I planted the seeds 18 inches apart in rows about two feet apart. I planted the seeds about a half-inch deep. I went with the instructions on the backs of some seed packages.”
It all seemed like a good idea at the time.
“I decided last May or June I was going to plant pumpkins,” Calabria said. “I was thinking there would be a good little crop that I could sell in October. The pumpkins were supposed to get to 10 to 15 pounds. They’re six or seven pounds.”
He hasn’t been the only unsuccessful gardener in the Caddo Grove area.
“A lot of my neighbors’ gardens totally burned up,” Calabria said. “When I drive the back roads around here, I usually see these big fields of corn. They burned out, too.”
But he didn’t spare the water.
“I watered a lot. During the really hot periods, I watered almost every day.”
He may or may not seek a soil test at the Extension service next year.
“It depends on finances. Knowing what I need to do won’t help if I can’t do it.”
He has an idea what he might plant next year. It’s not pumpkins.
“I think I’ll go with watermelons,” Calabria said. “I’ll try to get a good start in mid-March. I’ll probably plant half the yard in watermelons and half in okra.”
Okra has been his best crop this year, and his fall corn appears promising.
“We’ve had some rain, and it’s been a little cooler lately.”
What pumpkins he has will probably wind up on the carving board.
“I want to make a few jackolanterns,” Calabria said. “I won’t make pies. I’m not really into the pureed [pumpkin meat]. I’d rather buy it canned.”
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