Pumped: Early fall sees pumpkins picked across Tri-Town

The swath of pumpkins laid out at Cervelli Farm Stand in Rochester is well-guarded. Towering monuments to Halloween and autumn — statues of various monsters — gazed above the pumpkin collection.

As the air turns brisk and the leaves turn amber, the trimmings fit for the season manifest quickly. While the Halloween decorations set up well in advance of trick-or-treaters — like the brooding figures at the Rochester farm — are eye-catching, the ornamental pumpkin is New England tradition. 

And throughout the Tri-Town span numerous places to pick out pumpkins. 

On the first day of fall, Marion residents Riley Calhoun and David Grosso walked around the display at the Cervelli Farm Stand, picking out pumpkins with family visiting from out of town. Grosso pulled a wagon filled with  gourds.

“It feels like it’s the commencement of fall for us,” he said. “The closing of the summer season and the beginning of the new.” 

Skeletons bearing scythes stood nearby. An effigy of a flannel-clad werewolf overlooked the farm stand. 

The pumpkins were orange, white, red and beige. Some of them were striped; some covered in bumps. Some can be held in the palm of one’s hand while others require a two-armed carry.

Some of the pumpkins aren’t even pumpkins. 

Many of the more decorative fruits are varieties of winter squash, Cervelli Farm Stand owner Scott Makowski said.

These “novelty” or “specialty” squashes, while edible, are mostly used for decorative purposes, according to Arnie Johnson, owner of Marion’s Fieldstone Farm Market.

One of the novelties, a squash that looks like a regular pumpkin covered in green and orange warts, is in fact a relatively new variety, Johnson said.

“Knuckle head” and “goose bumps” specialty pumpkins, the zombified gourds, were released in 2008 by Michigan-based Siegers Seed Company, according to a Jan. 4, 2008 news release.

The ubiquitous inclination to decorate for the fall puts all the squashes in high demand. 

It’s tradition, Makowski said as he clipped sunflowers in a patch adjacent to the pumpkin area. 

“It never excited me, but that’s because I picked them,” he said. “It’s just what everybody does.”

Standing in an alley of boxes and pallets filled with pumpkins, Calhoun said she and Grosso were “going for early fall decorations.”

The Sept. 22 visit on the autumnal equinox would be for picking out white pumpkins balanced out with some orange ones. Halloween decorations and a bigger pumpkin for carving a jack-o'-lantern would come later.

“We’ve got to pace ourselves,” Calhoun said.

The pumpkins at Cervelli Farm Stand originate primarily from Rhode Island, according to Makowski.

The farm has grown them in past years but has had to bring them in from elsewhere due to deer destroying and wiping out crops, Makowski said.

Over in Mattapoisett, the pumpkins sold at the Wyandotte Farm stand came from another local family farm, owner Michael King said.

Lakeville’s Elliot Farm was one of the first farms to sell Wyandotte’s bacon and now, Wyandotte sold Elliot’s pumpkins that had been picked from the field just four days earlier, according to King.

The squashes at Fieldstone Farm Market come from a farm in Sharon, Johnson said.

Outside Fieldstone’s main entrance, gourds overflowed boxes and poured from a wagon. The display, set up about two weeks ago, “puts a pop of color” out in front of the store, Johnson said.

A broom painted orange with a grinning jack-o'-lantern face stood next to a bulging green-orange ombré pumpkin. An assembly of robust “abominable” white pumpkins splayed out on a platform next to bright yellow ones. 

Some take photos with the pumpkins, according to Johnson.

“It kind of dresses up the place, gets people excited,” he said.

And even with novelty squashes sought for doorsteps and table centerpieces, pumpkins are naturally also eaten.

A pumpkin’s seeds can be roasted for consumption. A variety called sugar pumpkins are used for pies, Johnson said.

But seasonal decor still largely seems to be the crux of focus and demand.

At Cervelli Farm Stand, Calhoun and Grosso stood with their dog Hoyt, who at one point began to nose around the array of pumpkins.

“Hoyt, don’t eat that,” Calhoun said.