People frequently ask me what Jamie is doing with all his free time now that pumpkin season is over. Here’s the thing: it never really ends. These days he’s obsessing about soil samples, what seeds he’s going to use for next year and once he cuts the pumpkin up next week, he’ll be composting it back into the patch.
There are also the frequent reminders like a friend who sent me this article on SEO: Business Lessons From Pumpkin Hackers because she knows Jamie works in web development and initially wondered if it was authored by him. I forwarded it off to Jamie and got this response:
“I would never refer to myself as a ‘geek farmer.’”
“The Pumpkin Man” is so much more dignified.
Then last night before bed, he did something I can’t remember him ever doing: he was reading at length on his iPad. If you don’t know his history with reading, he spends all day deciphering code at his computer so the last thing he wants to do in his leisure time is read. He once said, “I don’t have anything against books. I just don’t like reading them.”
So, last night I was justifiably curious. I queried, “What cha reading?”
“Teaming with Microbes. Weathering, oxidation, reduction actions of iron and managese minerals and the biochemistry of the decomposition of organic matter are the primary factors influencing soil color.”
“I’m sorry I asked.”
I'm a Canadian-born mom of two, former Denver Post columnist, family travel writer, editor of MileHighMamas.com and 9News contributor. Expert on all things Utah, Denver, family and travel. Lover of laughter and life. Happily married to a man obsessed with growing The Great Pumpkin. 