Elementary students pick out their own Halloween pumpkins

Heather Cory

Careful not to step on any plants, kindergartners from D’Vorre and Hal Ober Elementary School search through a pumpkin patch Oct. 1 at the Gilcrease Orchard.

By Jenny Davis (contact)

Friday, Oct. 10, 2008 | midnight

It's an annual D'Vorre and Hal Ober Elementary School tradition to bring the kindergartners to the opening day of the Gilcrease Orchard Pumpkin Patch near Tenaya Way and Grand Teton Drive.

However, the typical city kid's idea of a "pumpkin patch" wasn't what they found when they arrived Oct. 1.

"When I told them we were going to a pumpkin patch, they asked if there would be blow-up slides, pony rides or hay mazes," said Ober kindergarten teacher Jacque Colgan. "I said, 'No, we're going to a real pumpkin patch where real pumpkins grow. They've been looking forward to this for months.'"

The orchard has about 1,000 pumpkins of all sizes on 15 acres of land. There are no frills, just an old-fashioned pumpkin patch.

Those looking for pumpkins walk up and down long rows of dirt in between the pumpkins attached to swirling vines on the ground. Most of the green or orange pumpkins are a little smaller than a soccer ball. Availability, however, depends on prior pumpkin patch pickers. Ober teachers started bringing their students on the opening day, finding that waiting too long means there may not be any pumpkins left.

It was the first time for many of the Ober students at the pumpkin patch. After carefully scouring the rows, they walked away proudly with pumpkins in hand.

"I picked this one because it looked kinda fat," said kindergartner Sophia Platt, who plans on being a princess on Halloween.

Kindergartner Jack Allegert, who will dress up as Iron Man, found the tallest pumpkin out of the group. He said he's going to put a candle in his pumpkin and paint a scary skull on it.

"This was awesome," he said of the experience.

The class got ready by reading books about pumpkin patches and writing about them. They practiced walking through a pumpkin patch by having the students lie down in rows while other students gently walked in between them.

The children said none of them stepped on another student.

Along with the pumpkin patch, The Gilcrease Orchard is a local opportunity for people to be a part of a working 67-acre farm and pick their own fruits and vegetables.

The orchard is open from 7 a.m. to noon Tuesdays through Sundays. Cost includes an admission charge of $2 for adults and $1 for children, and payment is also required for the picked produce.

Jenny Davis can be reached at 990-8921 or jenny.davis@hbcpub.com.