SYRACUSE, N.Y. (NCC News)– It is officially fall and many locals and tourists alike are flocking to pumpkin patches across CNY.
The Pumpkin Hollow in Syracuse is certainly seeing an influx in customers, but that doesn’t mean its inventory will disappear anytime soon… if it all.
Cooper Weinman, one of the friendly faces stationed at the checkout counter, said he enjoys watching fall festivities first hand.
“I like getting in the fall spirit and seeing all these people, especially on weekends– hundreds and hundreds of cars pulling up– everyone getting out in their fall apparel taking family photos. It makes me happy,” Weinman said.
What Weinman describes is a common scene for pumpkin patches. People across the nation are looking for those perfect carving, cooking, and decorative pumpkins.
“Some kids want the biggest pumpkins. A lot of people are looking for house decorations, porch decorations. And, a lot of people come for wedding venues. They’ll come spend hundreds of dollars on pumpkins,” Weinman added.
Charlie, one of the youngest patch-goers, said all she wanted was a “big green pumpkin” to match her ninja turtle Halloween costume.
Two-year-old Brantley Rodin was more interested in the small gourds. His mom, Ali, said she wanted some pumpkins “of all different colors and sizes” to carve and decorate their new house for the season.
While Weinman tries to keep his prices low, some customers are willing to spend a pretty penny for their perfect pumpkin.
Finder.com, a financial guidance site, estimates that Americans will spend approximately $708M on pumpkins this year.
Weinman isn’t surprised by this, as he claimed to pick “hundreds of thousands” of pumpkins this season to fill his customers’ needs.
But the big question is, what happens at The Pumpkin Hollow when fall crowds disappear, where do the unsold pumpkins go?
“We take them back to the fields. They act as great fertilizer and a lot of times they’ll reseed themselves the next year,” Weinman said.
By returning the pumpkins to the field, farmers are able to add extra nutrients to the soil which will help with the next growing season, making bigger and brighter pumpkins.
Pumpkins are 90% water, allowing them to break down easily and enrich the ground where new pumpkins will grow.
The Pumpkin Hollow isn’t the only patch with leftover pumpkins and gourds, the overflow happens across CNY.
According to Weinman, most patches have their own farming system where they use the old pumpkins to plant new ones for the next season.
Some patches, like the Great Pumpkin Farm in Clarence, NY, donate their pumpkins to local zoos and animal rescues.
If you’re wondering what to do with your jack-o-lantern after Halloween, you can donate pumpkins to zoos like the Rosamond Gifford Zoo in Syracuse.
Zookeepers say the animals enjoy playing with the pumpkins and eating them too.
The Rosamond Gifford Zoo even offers fun incentives, like free entry, for kids who donate.
