Halloween season ushered in with the opening of Webb Ranch Pumpkin Patch

Webb Ranch’s Pumpkin Patch officially opens today for its annual four-week march to Halloween on October 31. We stopped by a couple of days ago to talk to Gary Webb (pictured above sitting on hay bales) about what’s on tap this year for this Menlo Park favorite.

He told us that, per usual, there will be 18 varieties of pumpkins to choose from, from maxi to mini, and colors that include red, white and blue, as well the traditional orange.  About 30% of the pumpkins sold are grown on the Ranch. The usual ghoulish-faced scare crows (we saw one getting “stuffed”) will stand guard around the perimeter.

A new-this-year pumpkin-shaped bouncy house has taken up residence in the western corner of the Patch. Up the hill, visitors will find not only the traditional haunted  house (not for the preschool set — too real!) but also a new-this-year train, which Gary was awaiting arrival of as we visited. He’s also hopeful that there will be a photo booth and face painting to go along with the popular hay and pony rides. (Note: there’s a charge for some activities.)

Inside the Ranch produce stand, we chatted with manager Deano Lovecchio’s wife Shyer. We were curious if any of the pumpkins sold got eaten. “I don’t think so,” she said, “we don’t promote that use. The Sugar Pie pumpkins can be used for making soup. But that’s only for people who want to be extremely adventuresome, as it’s not easy.”

Webb’s Pumpkin Patch, haunted house and bouncy house are open daily form 9:00 am to 6:00 pm. Hours for others activities vary, with some available only on the weekends.