ELLY GRIMM
• Leader & Times
The Halloween season is rapidly approaching, which means many people will be searching for that perfect jack-o-lantern to carve up.
Pumpkin Paradise in Sublette is officially open for the season, and owner Janet Weidner said she has been excited for the season for months.
“It was either at the end of May or the beginning of June, because the evenings have to be warm enough for the seeds to sprout. If we plant too early, some of them won't come up, and it's about a week or two before we realize that, and that puts us behind because we have to replant everything, and obviously, we don't want to plant too late or else the pumpkins might not be ready by the time we want to open up,” Weidner said. “My husband, Steve, typically orders the seeds early in the year and then we go out in the fields and decide where we want to plant everything. We were unable to be open last year because we had a crop failure due to some late and severe rains, which was a real bummer, but we're excited to be open this year. We've been pulling the games and everything else out of storage and cleaning them up and touching up the paint and everything else, so we're definitely ready to have people back for this season.”
The patch will be open to the public Saturdays and Sundays only, from 2 to 7 pm, running through Sunday, Oct. 27. Schools may call to make appointments during the week, and they can call (620) 668-5680 or email
Weidner said there is also a lot of excitement about being able to be open again this year.
“We're over the moon to be able to be open again this year, we were so, so disappointed about not being able to do so last year. I always say I'm walking on air whenever I'm in the pumpkin patch among everyone, it's just a great scene, and it's great having a job where I'm able to be out in nature every day,” Weidner said. “We've already had a lot of schools calling us, and we don't have too many of those slots left, so if there’s any school wanting to do a field trip, get in touch with us soon. We always have at least 100 different varieties each year, but that number always varies based on what actually grows and what people want to take home. We've got Connecticut field pumpkins, warty orange pumpkins, Cinderella pumpkins, sugar pumpkins, and many other varieties. Every year, we have some varieties that disappoint us and some varieties that grow like crazy, so it's always a bit of a game seeing what ends up growing and what doesn't. But it's always great looking over the field and seeing everything that does come up, there's no better sight to me than that, and we've definitely been working hard with the weeding and other maintenance.”
Weidner said she enjoys working with the public every season.
“We've got some really beautiful pumpkins that should make perfect jack-o-lanterns, and I think people will be happy with everything we have. We've got so many selections out there, and I think everyone will be happy with what they ultimately end up with,” Weidner said. We love it when schools come out here, and we can have those school trips Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays. We have some schools come for just a short time and some schools who spend most of the day here and even make it a picnic day, which is awesome, and they always enjoy the games and everything else. I say this every year, but I absolutely love seeing people come and enjoy themselves in the fields and just relaxing with their families, and there are a lot of families who treat it almost like it's an amusement park or something similar, which is great. I would also like to remind everyone admission is $6 for people ages 3 years old and older (with children 2 years old and younger free), and they must pay by either cash or check, we do not take cards since we don't have those capabilities. We also don't allow pets, and Pumpkin Paradise is also a no smoking/no alcohol facility. It's great seeing families pick out that perfect jack-o-lantern together, or play the games and just spending that time together. I also really like when I'm working in a part of the field and just having everything peaceful.”
Overall, Weidner said, she hopes to see a lot of visitors to the pumpkin patch for this season.
“We can never really tell what any particular year will bring, but we always hope to see a lot of people come out and visit our pumpkin patch,” Weidner said. “I will say though, if you want to be sure and get the pumpkin you truly want, get here earlier in the season when the crowds aren't quite as busy and you can have your choice. It's always around the middle of the season when we get swamped with school visits and family visits, because that's when everyone feels more in the mood to do fall-related stuff, and like I said, that's always really fun to watch. We also have to take the weather into consideration, we can never fully predict if a season's going to be nice and encourage people to be out and about, or not. You can have a beautiful pumpkin patch full of pumpkins, but if the weather's not great, people aren't really as inclined to go out and about outdoors. But overall, I think we’ll have a really good season, and I hope we get a bunch of people out here finding that perfect Halloween pumpkin.”
