Garden Tips: Pumpkin Updates and Tomato Crops

By BRUCE SCHWARTZ | Contributing Writer

As I mentioned in my last column on September 12, the results of the largest pumpkin grown in the USA would be coming in. As I write this column on October 4, the pumpkin weigh-offs around the country are not ready, as in the next couple of weeks, the results will be in.

I do have some results from Ogle County, Illinois: Theresa Miller set a new state record by growing a nearly 1,900-pound pumpkin. Her pumpkin is named “Miss Impressive”—impressive indeed.

Growers from all over the country will be bringing their pumpkins to Half Moon Bay (San Mateo County) on October 14 to see if last year’s 2,749-pound pumpkin grown by Travis Gienger of Minnesota can be beat. Stay tuned.

On another note, I want to touch on the processing tomato crop grown here in California. Whether it is pizza, pasta, ketchup, crushed, sauced, stewed, chopped, pureed or made into paste, the processing tomato is a part of our culinary life.

According to the USDA, 226,000 acres were planted this year in California, down 11% from last year. Yields were down this year due to extremely hot temperatures during the middle of the growing season.

The harvest season begins in the southern counties (Imperial, Kern) in late July and finishes up in the Sacramento Valley in October. The state average for yields are approximately 50 tons per acre. Multiply that by 226,000 and you will get 11.3 million. That is a lot of tomatoes.

I like to write about agriculture because, as many of you readers know, I was an agricultural consultant for 20 years, specializing in plant nutrition. I have consulted on 1,000s of acres of processing tomatoes in my career.

I like to inform my readers about these things that we take for granted. Hooray for agriculture!

Bruce Schwartz is a 24-year resident of the Palisades Highlands. He was an agricultural consultant for 20 years, specializing in soil nutrition for crops grown in the Central Valley. He was named Pacific Palisades’ Citizen of the Year in 2017 and a Golden Sparkplug award winner in 2013, and is a member of several community organizations. To reach Schwartz, call 310-779-1773 or email bruceschwartz@rodeore.com.