People head to local pumpkin patches for authentic experience

Ryan Wilmot and his girlfriend, Kaeli Lara, recently visited Honey Hill Orchard in Waterman to pick out the perfect pumpkin to use as decoration on their porch.

“It’s all about the experience,” said Wilmot, a Plano resident. “Anyone can go to a store and buy a pumpkin. It’s more fun to visit a pumpkin patch. It’s all about the picking.”

Kathy Bock, owner of Honey Hill Orchard, 11783 Waterman Road, said that early to mid-October is when most people stop by to purchase pumpkins. Honey Hill Orchard has 18 varieties of pumpkins growing on 3 to 5 acres this year.

“People are buying pumpkins either to bake with or use for decoration,” Bock said. “Howden is our most popular variety, and it makes a great standard jack-o’-lantern. People also seem to like the speckles and bumps and the different colors this year.”

Bock said that Honey Hill Orchard started selling pumpkins the last weekend of September.

“Everything, from planting, harvesting and selling is so dependent on the weather,” she said. “We were worried about the dryness and excessive heat during the summer, but we did better than I would have thought. It has been an average crop year for us.”

If you think that Illinois seems to have more pumpkin patches than other states, you're right: According to the United States Department of Agriculture's Economic Research Service, in 2017, Illinois was the largest pumpkin producer, harvesting about 3 to 5 times as many pumpkin acres as any of the other top states.

Jonamac Orchard, 19412 Shabbona Road in Malta, has 25 different varieties of pumpkins growing on 12 to 14 acres this year, with pumpkins sold by size or three for $20.

“We have a lot of unusual pumpkins and different colors this year: pink, blue, white, green and regular ‘pumpkin orange,’” said Jenna Spychal, a third-generation owner of Jonamac Orchard. “You can come out, pick your pumpkin right off the vine. It’s not just pumpkins, we also have eight different varieties of squash. There are so many different flavors and uses for gourds.”

Spychal said that the first weekend in October usually is the busiest pumpkin-selling time of year, but because of heavy rains and cold weather, she predicts mid-to-late October will be busiest.

“We’ve had a big swing in temperatures this year, from 80 degrees Fahrenheit to a freeze in the same week,” she said. “But it’s amazing to see the die-hard pumpkin fans out in the patch in the pouring rain. Everyone wants that authentic pumpkin-picking experience.”

There are several pumpkin patches in the area.

• Johnson’s Pumpkin Stand and Corn Maze, 1765 W. State St. in Sycamore, offers more than 50 varieties of pumpkins, gourds and squash with a large assortment of colors, shapes and sizes.

• Wessels’ Family Farm, grows produce in Waterman and sells it at 2023 Sycamore Road in DeKalb. The owners grew 17 varieties of pumpkins on about 12 acres.

• Wiltse’s Farm Produce, 50 W 379 IL Route 38 in Maple Park, grows about 12 varieties, including traditional and heirloom pumpkins.

• Yaeger’s Farm Market, 14643 IL Route 38 in DeKalb, grew 11 types of pumpkins on 8 acres.

Mark Yaeger said that most people decorate or do crafts with the pumpkins, putting them outside for others to enjoy.

“My best-selling pumpkins by far are the pie pumpkins, and white ones have also been very consistent in their sales,” Yaeger said. “People were buying everything, from Cinderella to blue, jacks and peanut pumpkins.

“I have a family that’s been coming for 25 years and they buy something different every year,” he said. “There’s no rhyme or reason to what’s popular each year, but pie pumpkins are probably the one exception to that rule.”

Rob Wessels of Wessels’ Family Farm said he grows pumpkins, in addition to corn and soybeans, because “growing pumpkins is fun.”

“Not everyone wants the same pumpkin,” Wessels said. “Some people want small pumpkins, others want large ones. Everyone has in their mind ‘the perfect pumpkin,’ and it’s never the same for any two people. That’s what makes pumpkin growing and selling so much fun.”