The Clatsop Working Watersheds Cooperative has made local farmer Ed Johnson, of Johnson Brownsmead Farms and the beloved annual October pumpkin patch, the 2026 Farmer of the Year. “The first year, I knew nothing about pumpkins,” he said on the cooperative’s YouTube channel. Well, Connecticut field pumpkins get big, and the school buses can’t get down my road. So, it’s like 1,800 feet from where I grow the pumpkins up to the paved road. “It was a great place to raise kids.” (Screenshot: Clatsop Working Watersheds Cooperative YouTube Channel)