Pepe’s Pumpkin Patch Celebrates Pumpkin Season for its 14th Year

The celebration of the harvest and All Hallow’s Eve, based on the Celtic festival Samhain, a ritual honouring the dead, was introduced to North America by early settlers, according to Statistics Canada. 

Lanterns carved from turnips, potatoes or gourds were displayed to guard against spirits.  

However, the settlers found pumpkins grown by the Aboriginals were simpler to carve and made excellent jack-o-lanterns. 

Long a symbol of harvest and Halloween, the pumpkin now offers many small farm operations a chance to show off their produce to the public while creating an alternative revenue source.  

Statistics Canada lists this alternative source of revenue activity as agri-tourism. 

With Halloween two weeks away, people in Essex County are making their way to pumpkin patches. 

And Pepe’s Pumpkin Patch in LaSalle has a variety of pumpkins to choose from.  

The colours of the pumpkins are a vibrant array of oranges, yellows, whites and greens, some even striped.  

Halloween would not be complete without a plethora of these brightly coloured vegetables in all shapes and sizes. 

Co-owner Greg Rocheleau said he considers the harvest great this year. 

“We had quite a wet summer, but the crop came through and we have tons of pumpkins,” said Rocheleau. 

According to Statistics Canada, pumpkins are the fastest-growing crop in Canada despite not being one of the largest producers.

The fast growth of this crop seems to be related to its popularity during Thanksgiving and Halloween.

Ontario accounted for more than 50 per cent of Canada’s pumpkin area in 2001, as reported by Statistics Canada. 

During this period, approximately two-thirds of the area in Ontario was dedicated to fresh sales, while the remaining one-third went for processing.  

In 2001, 92 per cent of sales came from fresh pumpkins and the remaining eight per cent of pumpkin sales came from pumpkins processed into canned pumpkin pie mixes and related products, recorded by Statistics Canada. 

Additionally, pumpkins are now the seventh most valued vegetable after potatoes, sweet corn, peas, beans, tomatoes and carrots, whereas, in 1986, they ranked fifteenth. 

DID YOU KNOW 

• According to Statistics Canada, pumpkins are winter squash and a member of the Cucurbitaceae or gourd family, which includes squash, pumpkins, cucumbers, muskmelons, honeydew melons, cantaloupe, watermelons and zucchini.  
• These plants are native to Central America and Mexico. 
• Pumpkins and squash played a significant role in the agricultural practices of Native North Americans, according to Statistics Canada.  
• They served as a food source and were dried and woven into mats. 

 

Rocheleau said Pepe’s starts preparing for pumpkin season at the beginning of August. 

“We prepare the farm for the pumpkin patch itself before we can start planting by getting all the buildings ready and cutting all the lawns,” Rocheleau said. “There is a fair amount of upkeep to do what we do, but we love what we do.” 

According to the 2021 Census of Agriculture, there were over 11,000 acres of pumpkin patches in Canada.  

Most farms growing pumpkins in Canada are near major urban centres.  

Of the 5,742 hectares of pumpkin area in 2001, 2,024 hectares were on 473 farms in southern Ontario.  

Rocheleau said the weather presents a significant challenge regarding pumpkin growth. 

According to Rocheleau, pumpkins may rot or experience stunted growth due to excessive moisture in the field and despite the wet summer, the rainfall in the latter part of the season provided the pumpkins with the perfect growth environment. 

“All that rain we got this year worked in our favour and actually helped the pumpkins grow,” Rocheleau said.