For the second in our ongoing series of North Bay pumpkin patch reviews, we checked out the Godmothers of Timothy Murphy School Pumpkin Field, AKA the St. Vincent's Pumpkin Patch. This popular and long-established seasonal fixture is located in St. Vincent's field near St. Vincent's School for Boys just south of Novato. To get there, take the Marinwood/St. Vincent's exit off Highway 101. Head east toward St. Vincent's and you can't miss it. In the interests of full disclosure, we live pretty much right across the freeway from St. Vincent's and always visit this pumpkin patch several times during the Halloween season.
This year's pumpkin patch is really well done. It's attractive both for adults and children, with colorful plywood cutouts of Halloween characters, and plenty of decorations, figures, and props to keep everyone interested. They don't actually grow their pumpkins here, but have a large selection of them ready to choose. There are wheelbarrows and red Radio Flyer wagons available to haul around your pumpkins or your kids. Like many pumpkin patches these days, pumpkins aren't the only draw, and there are the requisite bouncy house and giant inflatable slide for kids to play on. You need to buy tickets for these, which are ridiculously inexpensive; we got 12 for $5.00 (it takes 1 for the slide and 2 for the bouncy house), and have enough left over for another visit.
Pumpkins are reasonably priced, by Bay Area pumpkin patch standards. Small pumpkins can be had for as little as $1, while very large jack-o-lantern pumpkins are about $20 and up. There's a snack shack selling drinks and snacks, as well as a gift shop with Halloween decorations and toys, all pretty inexpensive. The place is run by volunteers, and everyone is really nice and seem to be having a great time. 100% of the proceeds from the pumpkin patch and gift shop go to the Timothy Murphy School, a non-public day school serving boys with special needs, located at St. Vincent's.
While it doesn't give you that on-the-farm experience that some of the more rural pumpkin patches do, the St. Vincent's Pumpkin Patch makes up for a lot in spirit and fun. They're open daily through October from 10:00 am to 5:30 pm. For more info, call them at (415) 785-3264.
