Entertainment Joins Fare at Pumpkin Farm

Since Oct. 1, Tierra Rejada Family Farms has been the repository for thousands of home-grown pumpkins.

The gourds, along with a full slate of entertainment, have drawn thousands each weekend this fall, said James Barker, one of the farm’s owners.

Features such as musicians, a petting zoo and clowns have been added to attract more people during the busy pre-Halloween season. But, Barker said, the farm in the Tierra Rejada Valley concentrates mostly on the fall harvest period--not the ghosts and goblins of Halloween.

“That’s the less-real aspect of Halloween,� he said. “Kids get more excitement out of pulling a carrot out of the dirt than they do� from, for instance, a ride at Disneyland.

Barker said the pumpkin patch will remain open through Halloween.

Donna and Jon Turner of Altadena were at the farm earlier this week with their two children to pick out pumpkins.

“I wanted our kids to see where pumpkins actually grow,� Donna Turner said.

“Most kids think they grow on the floor of a Vons. It’s a good experience for them.�

Farm employee Lionel Noblitt guides Clydesdale horses and their wagon full of visitors along a dirt trail in the pumpkin patch. The ride gives those aboard a chance to scope out the pumpkin they want.

The pumpkins come in all shapes and sizes--from hand-held specimens that weigh a few ounces, called “sugar babies,� to giant gourds that weigh more than 200 pounds, called “big Macs.�

As visitors pour onto the ranch, the pile of pumpkins slowly disappears.

Still, no matter what, there are always a few left over.

Barker said that while they sell a few after Halloween, most of the leftovers are cut up to feed the farm’s animals and to provide seeds for next year’s crop.

For information on events at the farm on Moorpark Road south of Tierra Rejada Road, call 529-3690.