GeekDad Puzzle of the Week: Pumpkin Picking Problems

Every year at GeekDad Puzzle Central we grow our own pumpkins. This year we decided 50 pumpkins would be plenty for carving, baking and chunkin'. I was assigned 2 interns, Mike and John, to help with the planting, cultivating, and harvesting. This week's puzzle is based on the lopsided deal Mike made with John. Solve this one and you could find yourself with a $50.00 ThinkGeek gift certificate.

On planting day Mike struck a deal with John. Mike would do the planting and John would pick the pumpkins in the fall. Being a bit short-sighted, John agreed to the deal.

Mike planted the first seed then planted the second seed 1 yard away from the first one. Mike increased the distance by two yards between each subsequent seed. So it is 3 yards from the 2nd seed to the 3rd seed, 5 yards from the 3rd seed to the 4th seed, and so on until all 50 seeds are planted in a long row.

The interns care for the pumpkins all summer long.

Harvesting day comes and John finds himself with a big task at hand. The pumpkins grew so big that John could only carry one at a time. The storage bin is next to the first pumpkin and John has to walk out to each pumpkin, pick it, and then walk it back to the storage bin to place it. You can safely assume that the pumpkins grew exactly where the seeds were planted and, yes, we have a huge backyard.

Can you figure out the total distance John walked to get all 50 pumpkins into the storage bin?

Now, I know plenty of you will use a spreadsheet or write up some code to solve this problem but it can be done with paper and pencil. No matter which way you choose to solve, it send your answer to GeekDad Puzzle Central by Friday to be eligible to win a ThinkGeek gift certificate.