5 Ways to Save Money on Pumpkins

Nothing says fall like pumpkins and pumpkin patches. I know my kids love to frequent a few of our local farms. They always have some of the best activities for those crisp fall days. Who doesn't love to get lost in a corn maze or take a hay ride through the fields, but when it comes time to leave, do you pick up a wheel barrow and wander through the mushy fields to pick overpriced pumpkins from the farm? We don't! Today, I'm giving you a pass and sharing with you how you can save money on pumpkins for the whole family {even you mom, so you can decorate the mantel and the front porch!} but still enjoy family time at the local pumpkin patch and farms.

How You Can Save Money on Pumpkins
There are more than a handful of local pumpkin patches and farms that my family and I have gone to through the years. The local pumpkin patch has evolved and now it's more like a small amusement park with hay rides, corn mazes, face painting, petting zoos and more. None of the pumpkin patches I have been to have a requirement that you have to buy an overpriced pumpkin in the field from them. In fact, I prefer not to. With the rain we get in the pacific northwest, the fields are usually soggy, the pumpkins are dirty and pushing around an unbalanced wheelbarrow while wrangling kids is not my favorite activity. I'm giving you a pass and not only that, I'm giving you some tips to save money on pumpkins in your local area.  Take the money saved and enjoy an extra caramel apple and some roasted corn at the farm instead!

1. Shop at your local grocery store to save money on pumpkins

It's not as exciting to grab your pumpkins from a huge cardboard box at the local grocery store, but it will save you some money. Our local grocery store usually has pumpkins around .19 cents per pound. Far less than I have seen the price per pound at your local pumpkin patch. 

2. Visit your local farm stand to save money on pumpkins

I live in a suburb of Seattle and yet there are several local farm stands that I frequent in my area during the growing season. One stand literally has a little box that works with payment on the honor system. You never know what you are going to get, but one year we scored dozens of mini pumpkins and gourds for a quarter a piece.  
Another local farm stand is more dependable and has a real cash register with real employees! They even have a field set up like a pumpkin patch with photo ops throughout. The jack-o-lantern pumpkins are 3 for $10. And these are big pumpkins! Far bigger than I would have ever been able to afford at the pumpkin patch.

3. Fake it

I love the $1 pumpkins from the Dollar Tree. I have used them to create all kinds of different fall pumpkins to display in my home. Get creative and use these to decorate year after year.
You can find tutorials for all of these pumpkins {from left to right}: glass knob pumpkin, silver glitter pumpkin, book page and twine pumpkin, chalk painted pumpkin, ruffle pumpkin, fabric pumpkin, birch pumpkin

4. Grow your own pumpkins

For the past handful of years we have tried to grow our own pumpkins without much luck. I know friends that are very successful in growing their own pumpkins. We just keep trying each year in hopes that we will be able to get some kind of pumpkin harvest. So far this year, we have a few mini pumpkins and are hoping that our big ones get a nice burst of sunshine to keep growing for a few more weeks. 

5. Be patient

If you wait until the week of Halloween, you can find some great deals on pumpkins. I know our local area farm stand reduces their pumpkins prices to 99 cents for any size pumpkin! Considering that if you carve your pumpkins too early they will rot, you might as well wait until you get that sale before the holiday. 

Have you found any great tips for saving money on pumpkins? I know our family loves picking out the perfect pumpkin year after year.


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