The Agronomy and Horticulture clubs are capitalizing on a popular fall tradition.
On Tuesdays and Thursdays throughout the month of October, these clubs will be selling their home-grown pumpkins. Sold in front of Shepardson from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., the pumpkins will range from $2 to $10 from small to extra large. The Horticulture Club will also be selling pumpkins at their plant sales in the Lory Student Center flea market on Friday, Oct. 13 and Monday, Oct. 23.
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The presidents of each club organized the pumpkin planting and harvesting. Jason Gerlich, a junior studying watershed sciences and president of the Agronomy Club, and Paul Furnas, a senior studying business horticulture and president of the Horticulture Club, both put in large amounts of time and effort along with their club members to make this fundraiser happen.
“We managed to harvest all of the pumpkins we planted,” Gerlich said. “It was a great harvest. Lots of thanks go out to the horticulture and agronomy clubs. We had a lot of student involvement.”
Back in the spring, club members planted these pumpkin seeds in a half acre plot located at the Agricultural Research, Development and Education Center. A couple weeks ago, club members, with help from the ARDEC staff, harvested the pumpkins, putting in around three hours on a weekend to harvest around 1,500 pumpkins.
Both the Agronomy Club and the Horticulture Club use their fundraising money towards the advancement of knowledge and exposure for the club members. The Agronomy Club uses these funds to send their members to the American Society of Agronomy’s national conference, called Students of Agronomy, Soil and Environmental Sciences, and the Horticulture Club puts these funds towards the Mid-America Collegiate Horticulture Society. The Horticulture Club also hopes to put more funds in a scholarship for horticulture club members.
“This scholarship means a lot to me,” Furnas said. “It was the first scholarship I got. It’s a small scholarship, but it can really help out students.”
In addition to being comparable in price, the pumpkins are student grown and harvested. Rachel Seedorf, a senior studying soil and crop sciences, was involved in the planting and harvesting of the pumpkins.
“It’s a great way to support a student organization,” Seedorf said. “College students grew and are selling these pumpkins themselves. They’ve put their own knowledge and experience into something.”
The pumpkin sales are also sold in bulk, and the clubs are willing to negotiate prices on large orders. If interested, both presidents encourage people to reach out at either pjfurnas@rams.colostate.edu or csuagronomypresident@gmail.com.
“We really don’t want to see the pumpkins go to waste,” Furnas said. “Especially in light of food awareness month, I’d hate to see them all not get used.”
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Prices:
- Extra Large: $10
- Large: $6-$9
- Medium: $4
- Small: $2
Sale Times:
- Date: Tuesday and Thursdays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. throughout October
- Location: Shepardson on University Ave.
- Date: Friday, Oct. 13 and Monday, Oct. 23
- Location: LSC Flea Market
Reporter Julia Trowbridge can be reached at entertainment@collegian.com or on twitter @chapin_jules.
