Pumpkins Fly Through the Air at Washington Farm
John Thompson says his cannons can blast Jack-o-Lanterns nearly one mile.
— -- Visitors to a popular Washington state pumpkin patch should not be alarmed if they see pumpkins flying over their heads. That is exactly how the pumpkin patch’s owner intends it to be.
John Thompson, a fourth-generation farmer, is the mastermind behind his farm’s pumpkin cannons that draw hundreds of visitors each October to his Naches, Wash., farm.
“They’re kind of a hook,” Thompson said of the cannons, which he built himself. “People see them go off and then want to buy a pumpkin or go through the corn maze."
"Every year I try to do something different in the pumpkin patch," he said.
Thompson says he saw a pumpkin cannon once while traveling and decided to build one for his family's farm, Thompson's Farm. The canons can shoot pumpkins as far as three-quarters of a mile.
“There’s a 300-gallon propane tank that’s been converted to an air tank and has an 18-foot barrel and it shoots at about 60-pounds of pressure,” Thompson said. “A lot of people really get a kick out of that thing.”
The farm’s two pumpkin cannons are set off by Thompson every hour on the hour and, like entry to the pumpkin patch itself, come free of charge.
Their popularity inspired Thompson to create a cannon for apples as well as multiple walnut cannons, which serve as a game for pumpkin patch visitors of all ages.
“We charge $2 for five walnuts and if you hit the target you get a free doughnut,” Thompson said.
Thompson's "hook" for this year's pumpkin patch is a 1960s ski lift he acquired from a local ski area and transformed into a swing alongside the pumpkins.
"A gentleman came and said he remembered that ski lift," Thompson said. "He sat in that thing for probably 30 minutes. He's 96 years old and had his grandchildren and children swinging with him, remembering."
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