Autumn

Although you wouldn't know it by the weather, summer is over and fall is here, which means Halloween is just around the corner and most local pumpkin patches are now open! For those seeking that that true Halloween pumpkin patch experience, we present our annual roster of pumpkin patches in Marin and southern Sonoma counties. In Marin County, only the Nicasio Valley Farms Pumpkin Patch offers that on-the-farm experience, but old favorites like the St. Vincent's Pumpkin Patch offer an exciting Halloween experience for families, too. To seek out real live farms offering pumpkin patches this season, head up north a short distance to rural Sonoma County, where you'll find them in relative abundance.

We visited as many of these pumpkin patches as we could last year, and have posted links to our reviews of them below. We'll certainly make an effort to visit again this year, and we'll add our updated reviews when they're written.

We've included dates and hours for pumpkin patches when available. As a rule, most pumpkin patches are open throughout the month of October, although some open in September and some run through early November.

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This weekend we finally made it to the Tolay Fall Festival on Tolay Lake Regional Park outside of Petaluma. This annual festival, held over two long weekends in October, is the successor to the popular pumpkin patch held at the site's former incarnation as Cardoza Ranch. Tolay Fall Festival is much more than a pumpkin patch, however. It's a down-to-earth celebration of fall with tons of fun activities for the whole family.

Of course there's a pumpkin patch—it's located way out in the back 40 of the park and you need to take a tractor-drawn hay ride to get there. But there are also other attractions, exhibits, and hands-on activities. Our children enjoyed making old-fashioned corn husk dolls and dipping candles, and felting wool. There's also an animal area with the opportunity to pet some friendly Boer goats, scarecrow-making, a pumpkin-seed-spitting contest, lawn games, a straw maze, a demonstration of old farm equipment and early gas engines, a firefighting display, a Native American village, and more.

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Many families in Marin and the North Bay have fond memories of visiting the popular pumpkin patch at Cardoza Ranch outside Petaluma. In 2005, the Sonoma County Agricultural Preservation & Open Space District and the Sonoma County Regional Parks Department acquired Cardoza Ranch, also known as Tolay Lake Ranch, turning its 1,737 acres of farmland into a county park. Tolay Lake Ranch is a unique spot, with a freshwater lake, wetlands, diverse wildlife, and 8,000 years human habitation with extensive archaeological and historical sites. Tolay Lake Regional Park is currently under development and access is restricted, although the public can now make use of the park through a day-use permit program.

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This weekend we decided to check out what is to our knowledge the only pumpkin patch on a working farm in Marin County (if you know of another please let us know): Nicasio Valley Farms Pumpkin Patch (formerly known as the Lafranchi Pumpkin Patch). This certified organic pumpkin patch, located in the small west Marin village of Nicasio, is located just west of the Nicasio village square right on Nicasio Valley Road. Nicasio Valley Farms Pumpkin Patch is open seven days a week through October 31 from 10 am to 6 pm, and it's definitely worth a visit this season.

Nicasio Valley Farms Pumpkin Patch offers a wide variety of organic pumpkins spread out in an expansive meadow on the farm. Although in previous visits we noticed pumpkins being grown on-site, we didn't see any immediate evidence of pick-it-yourself pumpkins this year. Pumpkin varieties ranged from your standard Halloween jack-o-lantern types to white ones, green ones, and flat European "Cinderella" style squash. The farmstand also offer a variety of gourds, squash, apples, and other organic vegetables, as well as drinks, ice cream, and other snacks.

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Last weekend we dragged the kids to the first pumpkin patch of the season (but certainly not the last). We visited the Adobe Pumpkin Farm in Petaluma, located at the intersection of Adobe Road and East Washington Street. We've sort of made this an annual tradition to make our visit during the Weekend Along Farm Trails event on the last weekend of September (this year it was on September 25 and 26).

Located just minutes from the suburban sprawl of east Petaluma, Adobe Pumpkin Farm is a real farm that, in addition to pumpkins, also grows flowers and a variety of vegetables. Here you can pick your own pumpkin from a large field, or choose from already-picked varieties in all sorts of shapes, colors, and sizes. They also have different kinds of squash and gourds available. Adobe Pumpkin Farm is a very commercial operation, and I mean that in a good way. It’s well done, with a large variety of activities and attractions to keep families busy after the initial thrill of the pumpkin hunt.

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Late summer and early fall mark the start of apple season, and plenty of the tasty fruits can be found north of Marin in western Sonoma County, particularly in the town of Sebastopol. We headed up that way recently in order to try our hands at apple picking, which is available at a number of farms in the area at this time of year. Sonoma County Farm Trails map in hand, we decided to check out Gabriel Farm, a certified organic farm on fourteen acres in Graton, just north of Sebastopol.

Gabriel Farm is currently open weekends for apple picking from 10 am to 3 pm. Weekday times are available by appointment (call them at (707) 829-0617). We pulled into the lot, parked, and headed down the path to their store, stopping to make friends with the resident farm dog on the way. Along with the pick-your-own apples, Gabriel Farm also grows several varieties of Asian pears (AKA apple pears, which aren't part of the pick-it-yourself deal), Fuyu persimmons (not in season yet) and blackberries.

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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.
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