Beyond FARMING: SPOOKLEY THE SQUARE PUMPKIN by Joe Troiano

Holiday Hill Farm in Wilton, Connecticut, came up with an original marketing tool when it published Spookley the Square Pumpkin by Joe Troiano through Sterling Publishing. Since Troiano first told the story in 1997 (when his young son asked for a Halloween bedtime story that wasn’t scary), it’s become a popular Halloween tale of adversity overcome and even (you guessed it) diversity celebrated. Along the lines of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, Spookley is the odd one out who ultimately saves the day. And Spookley’s legacy lives on when his wise farmer sows Spookley seeds and creates a new crop of unusual pumpkins that includes the rectangular, triangular, and rainbow-colored in addition to the square. My favorite line, “Oh what a garden diversity makes,” wraps up the meaning of the story for me. As Troiano puts it “I think everyone connects in some way with the core message that it’s OK to be square in a round world.”

But Holiday Hill Farm has taken this project a bit farther by inviting family farms across the country to become Spookley farm affiliates. As an affiliate, farm owners can take advantage of the growing interest not only in the Spookley story book, but in Spookley activities and promotions that help drive pumpkin pickers to their local family farms rather than the Wal-mart parking lot for pumpkins and other Halloween merchandise. Help support this effort by checking out the list of Spookley farm affiliates to see if one is located near you, or by ordering Spookley books and other fun stuff. My girls love the book as well as the CD that tells the Spookley story and features catchy, original Halloween tunes. Enjoy!