Anatomy of a Scarecrow

1. Hunt through second hand stores for wild clothing, plaid shirts, overalls, sleepers, and cool or interesting looking props during the winter.
2. A week or two before opening day buy a ton of straw from a farmer.
3. Assemble clothing. Either making completely outrageous looking outfits or according to a theme (we have a disco scene this year).
4. Tie shirt ends and pant ends. If standing put in stand. Than stuff, stuff, stuff, and stuff.
5. When done we load the scarecrows onto a trailer and drop them off in the forest.
6. At each scene we arrange the scarecrows and add the props.
7. Than Lorissa goes around and makes up a short story for each scene.

Viola, you have a scarecrow bird watching, a scarecrow with 6 children screaming while she tries to iron and make supper, a scarecrow tending his plot of crops, plus many more.

If you would like to stuff a scarecrow for your own yard we specific days you can stuff your own scarecrow or if you would like to make one sooner phone us and we can arrange a day. Check us out at www.pennerpumpkins.com. Penner Pumpkins is also on Facebook.

Herding Goats

How hard can herding two goats be? Apparently quite hard. I should have known it was going to be a challenge. One day we let them out of their pen and what did they go for? The nice green grass or the nice green leaves? No, they had to go for the pepper plants. Thankfully they only got a leaf or two before we shooed them off. It was Saturday and Shirley and I had gone to Pineridge Hollow market and TJ was busy on the home yard. He didn’t let them out because the sky looked ominous and if there was going to be a storm it would be much safer for them to be in their pen. They love being outside of their pen.

When Shirley and I got home the goats were driving us nuts with their bleating. We were trying to clean up and get organized for the next market. TJ was on the Farm Animal maze so I though how hard can it be to get them to their grazing area. First I had to unnail part of the fence. Not a hard task, unless you have two goats head butting you in their desperate attempt to get out. Finally I had an opening in the fence and both goats tried to get out at the same time. Pretty funny watching them because it wasn’t working to come out. I pushed one back in and one came out.

Goal number one keep them away from the plants. Goal number two try to get them to run in the right direction. The goats took off and the chase was on. First they went in the wrong direction, but I quickly corrected that. Than they found a nice juicy green patch of grass and refused to budge. I grabbed the dominant one and started running. Than they found a second patch of juicy grass and had to try it. I decided to concentrate on one goat (the dominant one) and maybe the other one would follow. Didn’t happen, apparently the non-dominate one got sick of being a follower. I managed to get one goat tied up. Than I had to go find the next one.

Thankfully he didn’t decide to make a beeline into the greenhouse and chomp on some tomatoes or cucumbers. Instead he found some nice leaves. I bribed him with a tree branch and attempted to lure him to his tying spot. Only problem was his tying spot had changed, but I didn't know this so I brought him to the wrong spot. I than had to attempt to get him around our little garden. Than he spotted the cherry tomatoes and made a bee line and I made a bee line for him and to rescue the cherry tomatoes. Finally I got him tied up. I was dripping in sweat and totally out of breath, but the goats were now happy.

How easy is it to herd goat? I found out not that easy. The goats are nameless at this point, but will have names come August 1. I won’t be naming them because my ideas of names are: No Name 1 and No Name 2 (these are two of the cats you may see at Penner Pumpkins) or I name them according to a characteristic: Fluffy, Blackie, or Calico. Not very original. Come on down after August 1 and see the goats that gave me a good cardio work-out that Saturday.

Markets

Today is the Lilac market. Penner Pumpkins will be selling onions, cabbage, zucchini, potatoes, herb plants, tomatoes, lettuce, cucumbers, and hot peppers.

Tomorrow is the Pineridge market. Penner Pumpkins will be going this week. We will be selling the same as below. Some vegetables may not be available if they sell out at Lilac. We will, though, for sure have onions, cabbage, flower bouquets, and herb plants. Our vegetables are slow in getting ready because of all ...the rain so we don't have as much as we would like, but what can you do with mother nature.

2 weeks and 4 days til opening day.

Penner Pumpkins is busy getting ready to open on August 1st. We will be open at 11 am. Amanda is our painter and does amazing work. She is busy painting our animals for the farm animal maze and for our milking cow. Last year she painted animals for our play structure. Come check out her work. TJ is busy cleaning up the path. Leveling it out, chopping trees, clearing trees and grass. Brady is busy working on the farm animal maze. He's clearing out the trees and making sure it is very twisty and confusing. The other day I took a walk through it and told TJ to stay around so he could find me if I got lost. Shirley, the boss, is making sure everything is running smoothly. She's also busy watering our tomatoes and cucumbers in the greenhouse and planting the rest of the flower containers. She's also making sure all the odd and ends are coming together. Donna Marie is our website developer. She does an amazing job (check it out at www.pennerpumpkins.com). Than there's me, Lorissa. I keep the blog and facebook updated. I weed the garden and go to our two farmers' markets. In fall if you come buy a pumpkin I will most likely be the one selling it to you (if I'm not working at my other job).

On Tuesday Penner Pumpkins will be stuffing our scarecrows. That is always a very fun, but itchy job. I love seeing the scarecrows take shape. My favorite part is setting up the scenes and deciding which props go where. My second favorite part is making up the stories that go with each scene. Each year I make up a story that explains each scene in an entertaining way.

Hope to see you at the Scarecrow Forest.

Markets

Hello. Today is the Steinbach Farmers' market. Penner Pumpkins has decided to drop this one and instead focus on the Lilac and Pineridge Hollow markets. Our produce has been slow in getting ready. This Tuesday we had 1 and 1/2 inches of rain on top of that other moisture we had this year. We will be going to Lilac and Pineridge Hollow. Penner Pumpkins does sell off of the home yard. Phone Shirley for hours. For directions and a phone number check out our website at www.pennerpumpkins.com.

Farmers' Market

Hello. July 8th is the Steinbach Farmers' Market from 3-7:30 pm. Penner Pumpkins will be selling cabbages, onions, lily bouquets, herbs, lettuce, herb plants and containers, and tomato plants.

On July 9 Penner Pumpkins will be at Lilac Resort from 3 to 7 pm. Penner Pumpkins will be selling the same but we will also be selling tomatoes and cucumbers (a few pounds).

Rain, rain go away.

Hello. Penner Pumpkins garden has had a ton of rain this spring and summer. There will be no peas for the second year in a row. The corn is looking great. I have been selling a lot of cabbages all ready. Our greenhouse tomatoes need some heat and than they'll be ready. I've been selling a few cucumbers. The lilies are ready to be beautiful in your home. I have also have a lot of herb plants for sale. Stevia, Thyme, Lemon basil, Cinnamon basil, Sweet basil, Thai basil, Purple ruffle basil, Oregano, Rosemary, Lavender, Catnip, Parley, Summer Savory, and Spearmint. I also have a variety of herb gardens in containers and have three tomato plants left to sell. See you at a Farmers' Market.

Welcome

Hello and welcome to Penner Pumpkins and the Scarecrow Forest blog. On this blog I will keep you updated on the various events that Penner Pumpkins will be attending, the various activities happening at the Scarecrow Forest, and the produce that is available for that week of Farmers' Markets. Thank you for visiting and check back often.

Current Markets:
-Steinbach from 3 to 7:30 pm every Thursday.
-Lilac Resort from 4 to 7 pm every Friday.
-Pineridge Hollow 9 am to 1 pm every Saturday.

Check out our website at www.pennerpumpkins.com. Penner Pumpkins is also on Facebook.