Farmer John Ulland is loving life. His moments go by in the company of raspberries, tomatoes, rhubarb and his wife of the past five decades.

He has a farm outside of Austin, 140 acres, a dog named Inga and stains on his hands from picking blackberries.

He should be retired by now, but he isn’t.

Instead of sitting on his rear watching soap operas, Ulland sits on his rear and picks green beans.

“We work seven days a week, from the middle of April until the end of November; we just don’t have time for anything else,” Ulland, 71, says. “I would like to go fishing some time.”

John and Jan Ulland spend most of their summers at the farmer’s markets in Austin and Mason City and preparing their freshly picked crops for them.

They sell fresh fruits and vegetables and jam varieties such as jalapeno raspberry.

“We just feel like we have to be at the market,” John says. “People count on us there.”

John used to raise cattle back in the day.

He had 750 at the peak and did that work for 15 years.

Now, it’s all about the planting and the picking and the selling.

Oh, and the pumpkins.

For the past 20 years, John and Jan Ulland’s farm has been a popular place for pumpkin picking.

It opens this year on Saturday.

“The fun is in the interaction with the kids, observing the little children,” Jan says. “They are so proud of the pumpkin they pick. It’s really important to them.”

The Ulland’s pumpkin adventure started in 1988, when John had a weed problem.

He planted pumpkin seeds in hopes of getting rid of the weeds, but instead, grew a nice pumpkin patch.

As John tells it, a friend asked to bring the grandkids by the first year, and the rest is history.

For 2008, John has planted 34 different varieties, thousands in all, with various sizes and shapes and some measuring more than 100 pounds.

“I wonder how kids are going to find their perfect pumpkin,” he says, while zig zagging through his crop. “They all look perfect to me; they’re beautiful.”

In addition to the pumpkins, John and Jan offer horse-drawn wagon rides and their silos for youngsters to play in.

“The thing about a silo is they’re hollow, so kids love to yell and scream and holler in them,” John says.

His pumpkins range from the size of a turtle to the near size of a tire.

Costs vary depending on weight, with a rate of 40 cents a pound and free admission.

“We’re not here to pick anyone’s pocket,” John says. “They can come out and spend the day for free.”

While John doesn’t raise cattle anymore, he admits that he works harder now than he ever did then. He pulls in long hours and long days and still has a passion for it, especially for the pumpkins.

“You should come out some time when I have a bus load of kids and see the fun I have and the fun they have,” he says. “Kids who came 20 years ago are now bringing their kids.”

There he goes again, loving life.