Quinn Schomburg is right at home in a pumpkin patch. Photos: Carol Schomburg
Resident spreads the Halloween spirit, one gourd at a time.
Quinn Schomburg arrived for our interview sporting a sweatshirt decorated with pumpkins. The T-shirt underneath was pumpkin-orange and featured the face of a perfectly carved jack-o’-lantern.
A couple of years ago Schomburg’s girlfriend, who was away from home on a family trip, fretted over missing the opportunity to carve her own pumpkin. Schomburg jumped into action, carving a jack-o’-lantern for her and 100 additional grinning gourds to line the sidewalk of her house.
Schomburg, 25, is nonverbal and utilizes text-to-speech technology, as well as drawings, imagery and photos, to communicate. Evidence of his early infatuation with the orange gourd dates back to 1999 when Schomburg was first photographed with a pumpkin at 10 months old. His interest carried through to his preschool days where he could be found drawing jack-o’-lantern faces on construction paper. Since then, his passion has only continued to grow.
Schomburg believes that all pumpkins are happy—and that all pumpkins strive to become jack-o’-lanterns one day. He helps them reach their full potential.
Regardless of color, size or shape, Schomburg’s jack-o’-lanterns are nothing but smiles.
A Typical Workday
Mark Twain once said if you find a job you enjoy doing, you will never have to work a day in your life. Twain’s message fits Schomburg’s life like a pair of favorite work gloves. He works at Knapton’s Raspberries, Pumpkins & Orchard in Rockford and Pleasant View Gardens, which operates out of the Maple Plain area.
Gabe Knapton, co-owner of Knapton’s, remembers the Schomburg family visiting the farm years ago. “They were regulars,” he says. “Quinn liked pumpkins, among the other things.”
Eventually, the visits turned into an opportunity. “We had an agreement,” Knapton says. “We gave Quinn a chunk of land to grow pumpkins, flowers, potatoes and tomatoes. In exchange, he would pull weeds and help with the harvest.”
Knapton guesses Quinn’s garden plot measures 100 feet wide by 200 feet long. “And it keeps getting bigger,” Knapton says.
Today, Schomburg is a Knapton’s employee. He works with raspberries, apples and vegetables in spring and summer and pumpkins in the fall.
Schomburg started working at Pleasant View Gardens when he was a senior in high school. “It’s his fourth year already,” says owner Anita Volkenant. “He started in the greenhouse, and plants, weeds and waters.”
During the fall, Schomburg’s focus is on the Pleasant View pumpkin patch. “We harvest 1,500–2,000 pumpkins and gourds,” Volkenant says.
As a team-building exercise, Volkenant initiated an employee photo contest. Schomburg won his first contest with a photo of orange tulips. He would win another with a photo of a pumpkin. “He almost always wins,” Volkenant says.
Rumor has it Schomburg entered hundreds of images per day. “He is tough to compete against,” Volkenant says.
Schomburg’s images can be found framed on the Pleasant View Garden walls. They can also be purchased as greeting cards. He sells his cards at Pleasant View, the Plymouth Farmers Market, the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum and on his own online Etsy shop under the name PumQuinns.
Proceeds, in part, go toward seeds, which makes perfect sense since The Baker Creek Seed Catalog is a Schomburg favorite.
Harvest Time
Fall does not culminate with a pumpkin harvest for Schomburg but rather a jack-o’-lantern carving extravaganza.
Schomburg’s favorite design is a smiley face. In truth, it is his only design. His rationale is straightforward: “Pumpkins are happy, and pumpkins make me happy,” he says.
Etsy: PumQuinns
Instagram: @pumquinns
