Garden Tips: The Results of the Palisades Pumpkin Crop

By BRUCE SCHWARTZ | Contributing Writer

The results of the 2024 Palisades pumpkin crop are in—and while I would like to be able to brag about the crop like any proud farmer, this year, conditions dictated the results. It was not hot enough.

I have been planting giant pumpkins for the last few years here in the Palisades. I have had some good years and some bad years.

For the last three years I have been planting them in front of a house on Almar Avenue. This year, I also grew them on Theatre Palisades’ property below the mural on Temescal Canyon Road.

If you recall, we had a persistent marine layer pattern this year that lasted to the first week of August. As I write this column at the start of September, we are experiencing our first real heatwave of the year. Before this week we had one 80-degree day all season in the Palisades.

Too much marine layer and no sunshine promotes powdery mildew. That was also a factor that kept the pumpkins from sizing up.

I will be at it next year, as farming is in my DNA. If any reader is interested in growing pumpkins next year, let me know and I will see if the conditions are right.

One of the things that is amazing is watching people watch the pumpkins grow. I was an agricultural consultant for 20 years in the Central Valley. I have looked over 1,000s of acres of different crops in my career, such as cotton, carrots, onions, melons, watermelons, lettuce, grapes, almonds and others.

I like to grow giant pumpkins here because residents love it. It is a great example of the power of plants and a testament of the beauty of nature itself, and how much our life depends on strong agriculture and the plants that grow the food that feeds us all.

This time of year, the results of the largest pumpkin grown in the United States are starting to be reported. Last year the largest pumpkin weighed 2,749 pounds and was grown by Travis Gienger, a horticultural and landscape teacher from Minnesota.

This year, the only results in are of a 2,035-pound pumpkin grown in Alaska by Dale Marshall. Alaska has almost 20 hours of sunlight per day in the summer, so that is a huge advantage.

The results for the lower 48 states are not in yet. By the time I write next month’s column, I will have the numbers with photos.

Here in the Palisades, the pumpkins that we grew this year will be on display at the YMCA Pumpkin Patch, which takes place at Simon Meadow in October. It serves as one of two major fundraisers Palisades-Malibu YMCA hosts each year, along with the Tree Lot.

What inspires me to grow these giant pumpkins is the look on the faces of both children and adults when the pumpkins are in the back of my pickup, as well as the children and adults sitting in the back of the pickup with the giant pumpkins, getting their photo taken at the Pumpkin Patch. It is the spirit of the fall season, and I am so glad to be a part of that function.

Meanwhile, let’s look forward to another beautiful fall season here in the Palisades.

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.