Much Ado About Pumpkins

Photo by Gundula Vogel on Pexels

When one of my cousins gleefully reminded me of the Halloween spook houses they used to build in their Baltimore basement, I immediately recalled the time they made me put my hand in a bowl full of “eyeballs” (actually peeled grapes coated in oil). Dredging up that memory brought back all the fun of creeping-out one’s friends and siblings.

There are far easier ways to enjoy the season than building your own spook house. For instance, try the floating pumpkin patch at UC Berkeley, or the elementary school benefit at Berkeley’s worker-owned Westbrae Nursery.

The pumpkin patch at Shadelands Ranch Museum in Walnut Creek has a history that goes all the way back to its founding in 1984, and you can also step into farm history with a variety of pumpkin-themed activities at Ardenwood Farm in Fremont. (Go to this calendar search and type in “pumpkins” and “Fremont” to see them.)

For a lazy day of picking out pumpkins (and other fun) on a working farm, visit Smith Family Farm in Brentwood, or try nearby Three Nunns Farm, where they also have rides and a corn maze. If you’re up for graceful sycamores and oodles of fun for kids and pooches, visit Joan’s Pumpkin Patch in Livermore. 

Many Halloween pumpkins are grown for playing their single doomed-but-dramatic role as a jack-o-lantern, while others are left to sit pretty as decor until a day when it become clear that they should be tossed into the compost. But some pumpkins do strive to reach the kitchen, and we want to help them get there with dignity. In that spirit, we have put together this inspiring collection of pumpkin recipes from our sister publications around the Edible Communities.