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Autumn's Colors Most Vibrant at Pumpkin Patches
YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio -- Autumn is here. The official beginning arrived three weeks ago, but now, after a cool summer lingered for a time, it feels like autumn at last, bringing with it the traditions that define this time of year.
“It's a great time of year. It's my favorite season. It's cooler, more comfortable and you can take the family out to get some pumpkins, some hot cider,” says Rick Molnar of Molnar Farms in Poland. “You get to walk around, spending the day together, enjoying the weather and looking at the colors.”
Across the country, as the cold sets in, pumpkin patches and orchards become travel destinations where kids can pick out their favorite pumpkin after a hay ride through the fields and row upon row of apple trees, many still bearing their fruit. For parents, ciders and jams, corn stalks and hay bales are aligned and stacked, ready to be taken home to complete the fall festival atmosphere.
“It really makes a good fall experience, to be able to put the decorations out in front of your house to make it look the best for Halloween,” says Gary Walkama of Countryside Farms in Poland.
As it turns out, this year's wet spring and cool summer benefited the pumpkin crop. The soil was fairly wet when seeds were planted, Walkama explains, giving them an extra boost when they started to grow and while the summer wasn't quite as hot as usual, temperatures rose as they began to ripen.
“I don't know how much it helped, but it didn't hurt our pumpkins in any way. There are some pretty big ones and some of all sizes,” Molnar adds, He's come across a few pumpkins that weigh as much as 75 pounds.
Walkama, meanwhile, says he isn't sure what his biggest pumpkin is this year is because the farm's scales “all max out at 50 pounds and after that, it's as much as you can lift [when we figure the cost].”
A typical pumpkin, he notes, usually weighs about 20 pounds.
Patches and orchards alike tend to be busiest on weekends, when family-oriented events are held to draw in customers, wagon rides topping the list.
“When a customer is in our market area, there's lots of people, lots of things happening. When they get into the orchard on a hayride, what they always talk about is the quietness. You go from the commotion to the orchard where you have horses pulling the wagon, so there's no engine noise,” says David Hull from White House Fruit Farm in Canfield. “Customers seem to like that contrast.”
Few orchards have the space to grow their own pumpkins, which require regular rotation to grow properly. Most of the pumpkins on display at White House's Pumpkin Pavilion are bought from nearby farmers. Those grown at the farm, Hull notes, are small “oddball varieties” that range in color from red to green with some taking shapes reminiscent of UFOs.
Among the most in-demand items at White House is its cider, which starts being pressed in September after the first apple harvest. However, Hull comments, if you're looking for the best cider, wait a few weeks until Halloween is right around the corner.
“Cider is something that is almost always better in late October, early November, because that's when you have more apples to work with,” he explains. “The flavoring of cider is entirely dependent on the apples you have to work with. In early September, there's not a lot of apple varieties that are ready yet, so you work with a limited number.”
Also a mainstay at almost all local orchards, especially when cider is in high demand, are doughnuts, freshly made every day.
“Sometimes, I think it's Haus Doughnut Farm. A lot of people come in just for the doughnuts,” laughs Matt Haus, owner and operator of Haus Apple Orchard & Cider Mill in Canfield. “We're extra busy this time of year. I guess it's the fall thing for people to come out to get their cider, their dozen doughnuts and bag of apples and you may not see them for another year.”
For Haus, last year's large apple crop has put the squeeze on this year's production. Normally, the orchard yields about 1,800 bushels annually. This year it was closer to 900.
While he says he normally gets extra apples from other area orchards to meet the demand for cider, he's had to go farther away this year.
“We're working our tails off just trying to keep up with demand. We have our cider at places like Giant Eagle and Rulli Bros. and some other places. We're a little bit different [from other orchards] in the sense that we're in markets,” he says.
The demand is at its height on weekends, especially when the weather reinforces that feeling of autumn. Luckily, the past few weekends have been spot on, says Walkama.
“Our biggest time is always on the weekends when we have all of our activities. This past weekend was nice and warm, so people turned out well. It always depends on the weather, but things are keeping up,” he says.
Those who enjoy pumpkin patches and orchards the most — the kids — aren't concerned with the economic forces of supply and demand as much as those running the farms. For them, it's about having a good time, being able to run around in wide-open fields and finding the perfect pumpkin.
“They love it,” Walkama says. “They love coming out, getting their pictures taken and seeing the pumpkins and animals and just running around. They all have a blast.”
Pictured: Decorated pumpkins await buyers at Countryside Farm Market in Poland Township.
Copyright 2014 The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.
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