Uesugi Farms Starts Annual Harvest of Pumpkin Varieties

Uesugi Farms, known for growing a variety of peppers, Napa cabbage, sweet corn, strawberries and beans, is off to a successful start of its annual pumpkin harvest, offering plenty of varieties of everyone’s favorite fall staple.

In addition to the popular orange jack-o’-lantern types, like the Howden, Howden Biggie and Racer, Uesugi Farms grows and sells a wide variety of pumpkins, the majority of which are used for decorative purposes. Some of their specialty pumpkins include the Orange Munchkin, White Munchkin, Striped Munchkin, Cinderella, Fairytale, Jarrahdale, Porcelain Doll, Monster Smash, as well as several ornamental gourds.

“The Howden, Howden Biggie and Racer are all popular varieties for our pumpkin patches, as well as other pumpkin patches we supply. Racers, however, remain the biggest variety we grow for retailers. Howdens can get tall and oblong, while Racers have a spherical shape that attracts more supermarket shoppers,” says Pete Aiello, general manager at Uesugi Farms.

Close to 100 precent of Uesugi Farms’ crop is used for display, but several of their varieties are edible, making their pumpkins versatile and convenient for consumers. Uesugi Farms is also trialing a couple of new varieties, which have the potential to be produced in larger volume in the near future.

Uesugi begins planting pumpkin seeds in late May across several of their crop fields, which stretch from the Coyote Valley down to Gilroy. The end of planting ranges from late June to early July, to ensure their harvest is pumpkin-plentiful in time for Halloween.

“We have some ideal growing conditions here in the Santa Clara Valley…not only for our pumpkins, but for every crop we grow. The moderate climate affords us strong yield, meaning more production with less acreage, which is great because every acre is important when you’re growing multiple crops and ground is scarce,” says Aiello.

So far, the first two fields harvested have provided Uesugi Farms quality pumpkins that are beautifully uniform with dark green stems. Come October once harvesting is complete, Uesugi is confident the crop will display a strong yield to match its quality.