SYRACUSE, N.Y. (NCC News) Freezing, cold temperatures and saturated soil aren’t ideal elements to sustain pumpkins. As a result, Jimmy Golub, Owner of Our Farm in Manlius, stops selling pumpkins after Halloween.
“Picking them and getting them out of the field, helps preserve them,” Golub said. “The deer don’t get them and the elements.”
Like most vegetables, Golub said pumpkins have a tendency to rot or deteriorate, as the weather changes and temperatures drop.
“If we have a good frost, I’ll cover all of the pumpkins that I have picked,” Golub said. “I have tarps and I cover them up; It’s a pain in the neck, but I do it.”
While some people use pumpkins to make pies, to eat the seeds or to carve for fun, Golub said there’s so much to learn about the unique vegetables.
“I’ve been growing pumpkins for thirty-five years, but I learned something this year, that I never knew,” Golub said. “So, every year, you learn things and you try to get better.”
After Halloween, Golub hires professionals to pick-up and remove the remaining pumpkins, since customers don’t pumpkin-pick in the cold. Once the pumpkins transition off of the farm, Golub spends his time buying new seeds for the following season and taking care of his farm animals, who play a key role in the weddings he hosts.
“In September next year, I’ll be looking to build a petting zoo,” Golub said. “There’s a sheep farm, right up the road from here and they’re happy to let me borrow their sheep; They don’t have to take care of them…I feed them and it works out good for everybody.”
Selling pumpkins is a seasonal responsibility, but Golub prides himself on raising farm animals and offering farm-style weddings, just steps away from his own home.
“This year, we will host, maybe 9 or 10 weddings,” Golub said. “My hope is that it [new petting zoo] will be a great experience for the guests and the brides and grooms, that they will be very happy and will sort of continue the relationship with a lot of the people that have come here.”
Although the winter is harsh throughout New York State, Golub is optimistic about next fall and planting next year’s pumpkins.
Aside from pumpkins and farm animals, Golub is assisted with day-to-day operations by Kevin Doney, whose daughter used to work on Our Farm, also. Doney makes and sells homemade maple syrup and Golub sells rhubarb too.
“You gather the sap from the tree and then, you boil it,” Doney said. “And it takes 40 gallons of sap to make 1 gallon of syrup.”
Ideally, the middle of February until April 1 is the prime time to produce maple syrup, Doney said.
Doney buys unique, glass bottles to package the maple syrup in like cabin and leaf-shaped bottles for customers to purchase.
Anyone interested in hosting a wedding, or buying fresh syrup or rhubarb, should contact Golub at 315-655-8453.
