Stoltzfus Pumpkin Farm

It was the first Saturday in September, and I was itching to start decorating the front porch for fall. Since it was too early to find a good selection of pumpkins at the farmer’s markets, Mom and I headed to a local pumpkin patch in Manheim, about 10 miles from Lancaster, PA, to Stoltzfus Pumpkins.

It was a beautiful 30-minute drive. In this current low-travel environment, gave us something fun to do outside for the afternoon. The pumpkin patch is open from 8 a.m. – 6 p.m., Monday through Saturday, from Labor Day through Thanksgiving.

Their website boasts that they have an “amazing selection of pumpkins” and they certainly do. They also carry a wide variety of unique squash and gourds, corn stalks, Indian corn, mums, corn wreaths, hay bales and a bunch of other fall decorations. Since I can’t always tell the difference between some of the more unusual colored/shaped pumpkins and the squash, I use those two terms interchangeably.

We started browsing in the gourd house, which had a huge variety of dried gourds. Eventually I selected and purchased a few large bottle gourds for some Halloween projects later this fall.  

In recent years, I’ve started color coordinating all of my fall decorations. While sometimes they are beautiful autumnal shades, they usually are not. It all depends on what inspiration I find at local nurseries or markets – the more unusual the better.  At a pumpkin farm with so many choices, I get “decision indecision” before finally settling on a firm plan.

This year, I thought that I would go for classic fall colors like red mums paired with orange and reddish-orange pumpkins. While the pumpkins/squash I found (above) were beautiful, they were too wide to safely sit on my front porch steps. I’m extremely clumsy and have to be on guard about creating tripping hazards.       

Instead, I settled for an interesting collection of peach and green colored squash. They would work nicely with the orange jack-o’-lantern-style pumpkins I planned to purchase later. Plus, they’ll make an unusual collection for this year’s fall front porch. I also found a few mini pumpkins and gourds to round out the look. Mom, who is always extremely patient during this yearly exercise, picked out a few gourds for her own fall display.  

We’re very fortunate to live in driving distance to so many local farm stands and agricultural markets.  And particularly this year, I’m glad we could make this trip to help support local farmers and merchants.

We had such a great time. I know we’ll look for a new pumpkin farm to visit next year.  Instead of heading to a big-box store, I challenge you to find an amazing local pumpkin farm for some of your fall decorating needs.