We are all familiar with this year’s corn and soybean harvest, but what about that other specialty crop that is harvested during the autumn with special focus in October.  I’m speaking of those round orange gourds, the pumpkins.  Scott Nedved farms west of Yankton, and in addition to growing the traditional crops he has also planted six acres of pumpkins.  This marks the third year Nedved has planted pumpkins as part of a “Pick Your Own” pumpkin business.  Nedved says despite the dry conditions, he was able to produce a large quantity of large pumpkins.  Nedved says he has grown 31 different varieties of pumpkins with several thousand pumpkins for people to select for their Halloween fun or autumn decorations.  Nedved doesn’t sell any of his pumpkins on a wholesale basis to area retail grocery stores or other outlets.  He says people like to come to the country and pick their own pumpkin, mainly as it creates fond memories.  The pumpkin farmer says growing pumpkins is a labor-intensive process that begins with the planting of 8,000 seeds in June, and then a constant battle with weed control.   He says he decided to grow pumpkins to offer people more exposure to agriculture.  Nedved says people come to his pumpkin patch from several miles including surrounding states.  Nedved’s pumpkin patch is part of his family’s Mazing Acres agri-tourism destination located at 30851 433rd Avenue.  It is approximately ten miles west of Yankton on State Highway 50 and a half a mile north.