CALABASAS : Kids Dig in to Prepare for Pumpkin Fest

Preschooler Devin Morris jabbed his hand shovel into the ground with a vengeance Thursday, as he and his classmates prepared the moist ground for planting.

“It’s hard work,” the 6-year-old said. “It kind of hurts my back when I scoot down.”

Devin and a handful of classmates were learning that planting pumpkins may be fun, but it’s not easy. The children, assisted by adults, will tend to the pumpkins until they are ready for harvest in the fall.

The planting, at the Kids Club day camp near Lupin Hill Elementary School in Calabasas, was organized to gear up for the Calabasas Days Pumpkin Festival, held at Paramount Ranch each fall.

A weigh-in for the biggest pumpkin will take place Oct. 14, and the public is invited to enter the contest. For information, call the Calabasas Chamber of Commerce at (818) 222-5680.

“We’re trying to get the community more involved in planting pumpkins, and we thought that it would be educational for the kids,” said Jeff Blum, marketing director for the festival, which is put together mostly by volunteers.

The children planted Atlantic Giant seeds, which have produced pumpkins weighing as much as 800 pounds. They also planted Big Max, another oversize variety.

June 1 is farmers’ traditional planting day for pumpkins, Blum said. And the cool, drizzly weather on Thursday was perfect, he said.

According to legend, Calabasas, the Spanish word for pumpkins , got its name after a wagon loaded with pumpkins broke an axle on its way through the area, Blum said. The pumpkins seeds took root and pumpkins began growing there.