The Great Pumpkin is on McGarrah’s farm

— As red as some of his pumpkins, the round-faced farmer punctuates his statements with chuckles. Dressed in an orange shirt and shoes and faded bluejean overalls, a straw hat atop his head shades him from the sun, he jovially asks visiting children how they’re enjoying their visit.

Dennis McGarrah is passionate about farming.

“I love making things grow.”

“I love seeing the smiles on the faces of the little children. It’s like being Santy Claus in October.”

The pumpkins are ripe and the fields are open despite a recordbreaking drought, said Dennis McGarrah.

“This was a long ole’ summer.

Thankfully, there is a pond on the farm,” he said, adding that he put anywhere from 20,000 to 30,000 gallons of water a week on the many pumpkins fields east of town.

McGarrah’s Pumpkin Patch is open from 1-5 p.m. Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. - 6 p.m.

on Saturdays and from noon to 6 p.m. on Sundays.

He’s had the farm in Pea Ridge since 1999. McGarrah and his wife, Dawn, live on a farm in Garfield, just off Gann Ridge Road.

He farms land there, off Miser Road and in Lowell as well as rented fields elsewhere.

“There are ’maters ( tomatoes), peppers, strawberries, cantaloupe, cucumbers, okra and pumpkins,” he said.

Farming “since I was 7,” Mc-Garrah chuckles, he worked at Kennametal for years, but farmed on the side even when employed there.

McGarrah sells his produce at farmers’ markets in Rogers, Bentonville, Fayetteville, Springdale and Pea Ridge.

“I grew up on a farm,” the son of Ervin and Agnes McGarrah said. The home farm is on Ervin McGarrah Road east of Lowell.

At the farm off Miser Road, fields are identified by variety of pumpkin. There’s Fairy Tale, Jack-o-Lantern, Lady Lunch, Baby Boo, Pie Pumpkin, Flatso, Red Warty Thing and Luna.

“I try something new every year. It makes it more fun.”

Pumpkins range from 6 ounces to 150 pounds.

More than 3,000 kindergarten students from Pea Ridge, Bentonville, Rogers, Fayetteville will visit the farm.

“The rule is, they have to carry their pumpkin,” McGarrah says.

Near the entrance to the farm, McGarrah’s daughter-in-law, Timo McGarrah, and granddaughter, Averi Johnson, 14, sell tickets, arrange pumpkins and help run the family business.

Drought is not the only enemy of the pumpkins, which will easily sunburn. McGarrah also fights insects and disease as well as deer that seem to view his fields as a buffet. McGarrah said he uses insecticide in the afternoon after the blooms on the pumpkin plants are closed in the heat of the day so as to protect the bees.

There are 11 bee hives on the farm.

“Without bees, there are no pumpkins,” he said pointing out both male and female flowers.

Customers pay $6 for admission and receive tickets which may be used for the mule train ride, the hay ride, the maze and to purchase pumpkins. Many first select a wagon and clippers, wander through the fields to find the perfect pumpkin.

The maze is cut through a stand of Sorghum/Sudan - a plant combination that can be used for forage for cattle.

“I vacation in November,” he said, explaining that farming keeps him busy from March to November.

During the busiest time of the season, he rises well before dawn and returns home after “darkthirty.”

As the hay ride circles the fields, McGarrah points out two hay tunnels and a huge pile of loose hay: “You can play in thehay like I did when I was a kid on the farm.”

Admitting he was worried when he first moved to the Pea Ridge location, McGarrah said hiscustomers from Lowell followed him there. He said many families return year after year for pumpkins, for family outings and for fall photographs.

News, Pages 1 on 09/26/2012