Pumpkins, Pumpkins Everywhere!

It’s a Cornucopia of Pumpkins Big and Small, and All the Colors of Fall

October 29, 2007

By Gail Matsunaga

If you haven’t yet gotten into the spirit of the fall season, head over to the Fullerton Arboretum, where a colorful pumpkin patch awaits visitors of all ages.

Traditionally associated with orange flesh and oft-carved Jack-o-lantern faces, pumpkins — members of the cucumber family — come in various colors, shapes and sizes. The varieties featured in the pumpkin patch, according to Chris Barnhill, Fullerton Arboretum curator, include Howden’s and rock star carving pumpkins, Dill’s Atlantic giant, white baby boos and giant full moons, Musque de Provence and Marina di Chiogga heirlooms, and the deep orange Cinderella.

Also on hand is a 100-pound Wyatt’s Wonder, a variety that can tip the scales at 500 pounds. Rounding out this cornucopia are “all kinds of gourds,” says Barnhill.

Over the last few weeks, the arboretum has been hosting Pumpkin Patch tours. Youngsters ages three to five — day care, Mommy & Me, pre-school, kindergarten classes — plus special education groups have been enjoying 45-minute programs featuring lessons on the life cycle of pumpkins and other Native American food crops. In addition, participants ‘get to know’ pumpkins by touching and smelling them, looking inside and touching the seeds, tasting the seeds and selecting a classroom pumpkin. Tours continue through the week.

Keeping a watch over the pumpkin patch, as well as the Children’s Garden and cornfield are scarecrows from the Build-a-Scarecrow contest that took place earlier this month.

For more information on tours and other fall activities at the Fullerton Arboretum, call 278-3579 or go to http://arboretum.fullerton.edu.