Pumpkin Passion

I love this photo and I simply had to share it.

More blogs to come after the elections…I swear!

11/4/08 Update:
The pumpkin endorsements keep rolling in . . .

There’s only one thing wrong with Pumpkin Eatin’ Season…it coincides with election season. UGH! Work is unbelievably busy as we try to save California’s Family PACT program and stop Proposition 4 from passing in November. Consequently, I’ve been using my lunch breaks to try and rescue family planning services instead of crafting blogs… Pumpkins must wait for some things. If everyone would just take a moment and look at the “No on 4” and the “No on 8” websites I would really appreciate your effort and I’d feel less guilty about not working on a flyer for “No on 4″ phonebanking!

Even with this crazy schedule I simply had to share my latest find. During a very hectic morning I took a brief mental break and stumbled across Cupcakes A Go-Go’s website where I found their pumpkin pie cupcake pictured above. They are so freaking adorable. Unfortunately they’re not pumpkin flavored, which is SO nuts! Oh well, Sarasota Florida is too far to get one anyway. I guess I’ll just have to make my own.

Name: Live Oak Canyon Pumpkin Patch
Purchased At: Yucaipa, CA
Price: Free Admission!
Availability: Seasonal

If I were going to sit in a pumpkin patch Halloween night to wait for the Great Pumpkin to arrive, the Live Oak Canyon Pumpkin Patch would be the one. If you don’t know about the Great Pumpkin, he’s the unseen star of “It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown.” The story goes that on Halloween night, the Great Pumpkin rises from his pumpkin patch and flies through the air to deliver toys to all the children. However, he’s not like Santa…he’s more location specific. He doesn’t distribute toys to all the children everywhere. He only gives them to the children that he finds in his pumpkin patch.

The challenge is to try and find his pumpkin patch. Linus provides us with some hints on finding the correct patch,

“The Great Pumpkin always picks the most sincere pumpkin patch to rise out of. He’s just gotta pick this pumpkin patch. He’s just gotta! Look around. You can see that there’ not a sign of hypocrisy anywhere. Nothing but sincerity reaching out as far as the eye can see.”
“Hey, aren’t you going to stay to greet the Great Pumpkin? Huh? It won’t be long now. If the Great Pumpkin comes, I’ll still put in a good word for you!” [realizing what he just said] “Good grief! I said ‘if’! I meant, ‘when’ he comes! I’m doomed. One little slip like that could cause the Great Pumpkin to pass you by. Oh, Great Pumpkin, where are you?”

So, sincerity and complete and utter faith are your best bets to getting the Great Pumpkin to your patch and I do believe that the Live Oak Canyon Pumpkin Patch has both. Today was my second visit to the Live Oak Canyon this season and I’m totally entranced by the place.

The first time we went was on opening weekend. Most of our time was spent in the gift shop. I’ve never been in one place that had so many pumpkin knickknacks. The best purchase EVER was 3 Halloween cupcakes! So very cute and when we went back only two ugly ones were left. Then, we picked a little tiny cute pumpkin. Her name is Francis and she’s the first pumpkin I’ve ever picked directly off the vine.

We were pretty overwhelmed the first time we went because of the sheer size of the place and how many pumpkins there were to look at. This time we went with a purpose, a bale of hay for our front porch and to take pictures. My camera was stolen from my car and the first time we went I only had my cell phone camera which sucks, big time. We spent time in the pumpkin patch searching for the perfect pumpkin and taking pictures of all the many types of pumpkins they have for sale. I’ve never seen so many varieties. It made me feel a little lazy, like I haven’t been doing my pumpkin duty by learning all of varieties.

There’s so much to do! It’s a kids’ paradise with lots of bouncy things and mini John Deere tractors to ride. There’s a couple of snacky type of food booths…but none that we saw with pumpkin eats. You can also take a tour of the grounds on the back of a truck bed or just take sit and watch the crowds go by.

I love this place! You should go soon because it’s getting picked over quickly. I could find the perfect pumpkin in the variety I wanted. You can see all of our pumpkin patch pictures here.

Rating: 5 out of 5