Hausladens of Lester Prairie are passionate about produce and one really big pumpkin
ANDREW MEULENERS
Enterprise Dispatch Editor
Anyone who has met Tony and Kim Hauslauden of Lester Prairie can tell immediately that they are passionate about the things that are close to their heart .
Whether it is their children Paige and Nathaniel or their garden , if they are passionate about something , they go above and beyond to do it right . The Hausladens are passionate about their garden , and love to put time and energy into it .
The Hausladens garden is huge compared to other normal gardens . It is so big that it could easily feed several families for months . The Hausladens love gardening and it is not just about them ; it is about sharing the product with their friends and family .
Hard work goes into keeping up with a garden like the Hausladens ’.
“ There are times that I get up early in the morning and put a couple of hours into the garden before I go to work ,” Tony Hausladen commented . “ It ’ s cheaper than therapy ,” he said .
One really big pumpkin
Hausladen has become well known for growing something unusual in his garden – large pumpkins .
He has been growing them since 2010 because of a sibling rivalry . Hausladen decided that he had enough of his older brother , Paul , taunting him at family gatherings for several years , reminding Tony that Paul was the one who grew the largest pumpkin .
Back in the late ‘ 70s , Paul , who now lives in Champagne , IL , grew a pumpkin Tony estimates to have weighed 200 pounds , and got his picture in the town paper for his efforts .
So Tony decided to get the best of Paul and he purchased five seeds through a company in Canada for $ 24.50 Two of the seeds came from pumpkins that were more than 1,000 pounds . When the seeds arrived , Hausladen started the seeds out by planting them in the house .
“ After the plants got big enough , we transplanted them into the garden and let Mother Nature take over ,” Hausladen said . “ We didn ’ t do anything special , other than weed the immediate area around the plants , and water them when it was dry out .”
That first pumpkin in 2010 weighed in at 575.5 pounds . “ I was delightfully surprised to find out that my pumpkin weighed that much . I was hoping for over 500 pounds , so I was very pleased with the first year showing ,” Hausladen said .
Hausladen has continued to grow large pumpkins every year after since and loves doing it . He has upped his game a little on how he goes about taking care of his pumpkins . He waters , weeds , and now uses liquid fertilizer . “ When you start talking about growing big pumpkins , they tell you there are four things you got to have : It ’ s good soil , good seed , good weather , and good luck ,” Hausladen said .
In 2017 Hausladen won an award for his pumpkin entry at Gale Woods Farms and last year his pumpkin entry
at Stillwater weighed in at a whopping 1,250 pounds .
Hausladen ’ s pumpkin this year is from his seeds . Normally , he will get together with other large pumpkin growers in Stillwater and exchange seeds . “ I used my seed this year just because of all the COVID stuff . Also , I was looking to get a nice orange color , normally when you see large pumpkins you see a lot that is white . I wanted to get a nice orange color this year and I think we got that ,” Hausladen said .
This year Hausladen had two large pumpkins that he was growing but one didn ’ t make it . The one that is left is already huge .
“ Since you can ’ t weigh the pumpkin while it is growing there is a way you can estimate it , it is called the OTT method or “ Over The Top .” We measure the circumference , then we measure side to side and then back or head to toe front to back , and add those three measurements up and there ’ s a chart , that gives you an estimate plus five percent . I haven ’ t measured this one probably for a couple of weeks , at that time it was about 850 pounds now , I ’ m guessing it ’ s probably close to 1,000 pounds ,” Hausladen said .
The rest of the garden
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Photo by Andrew
Meuleners
Tony Hausladen of Lester Prairie pictured here with his large pumpkin that he estimates currently weighs in at 1,000 pounds .
More PUMPKINS on Pg 12
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SeniorConnectionsHJ . COM Senior Connections Nov / Dec 2020
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