Albertson's certainly let everybody know that October is the time to buy your pumpkin. Look at the size of certain of those overgrown squash, will ya? I'm impressed. However, not enough to plan on carving one; I haven't done that since I was a little girl. When the dotter was of the appropriate age, her Evanston grandmother not only took charge of the jack o'lantern operation, but also baked yummy pies with the inards.
Albertson's also was selling decals the day I went shopping -- a cop-out if ever I saw one. Besides, with no holes in the rind, there's no reason for a candle. But then, what would be reason for the pumpkin in the first place? On the other hand, the special plastic pumpkins at Watters (below) can definitely be carved, tho I've no idea how well they would hold up to the heat of a candle inside.
Even without a scary face, the bright orange does make for neat displays, at homes (above) or in front of an downtown antiquery (below).
Of course, during October, pumpkin art abounds, whether flags (above) at JBs or a pair of
objets along Cortez Street (below).
Far more upscale: this pair of art pumpkins in the window of Creative Interiors on Gurley.
However, there's a bittersweet taste in my mouth as I write about the rites of autumn. The picture above should remind us of years past at the
Young's Farm pumpkin festival, which came to an sad end, thanks in part to the big housing bubble. Ironically, the Dewey-Humbolt folks still haven't figured out the zoning for the parcel that once was the farm and at this point in the business cycle, who knows when M3 might get around to breaking ground. If ever. The last time I heard any news, a farmer was renting the land to grow corn. Just like the Young family, but without a festival. Anybody been to the fall events on farms up in Chino?
You may recall that three years ago, Young's Farm held its final pumpkin-picking fall festival before signing papers for its Dewey acreage with a major developer (M3). All thanks to a cockamamie statute which would trim back water rights (and resultant value) each year the land was used for agriculture, from 2006 forward.
Fast forward three years. A special event permit will allow Peter's Pumpkin Patch to open its vines to the public for picking the great orange squash, now through November 1. Location: the former site of Young's Farm in Dewey-Humboldt. Oh yes, there's also an eight-acre corn maze. And a hay ride. Sound familiar?
What's going on, you might ask. For starters, the developer and the new town city fathers of Dewey-Humboldt disagreed about plans for the big property at SR69 and SR169. Frequently. And so any major plans stalled even as the current real estate bust took hold. As a result, most of the Young's buildings are gone but nothing has replaced them.
In the meantime, caretakers have been farming the land, while the Young family is happily transplanted to a spread in water-rich Oregon, and Windmill Farms up in Chino Valley has staked out the fall festival venue as its turf. Go figure.
Picture credits: pumpkin on the ground courtesy of my next door neighbors, the wagon load from the Farmer's Market, and grocery store displays from Safeway and New Frontiers.
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