Dommy GonzalezGenerally, it's still considered poor manners to play with your food. However, it has always been in good taste to decorate with your food, especially in the fall. Most markets carry only a handful of mostly lethargic or likely plastic items, like Indian corn; and florists charge near three figures for a slightly warty pumpkin. So for the last few years we've been going to The Farm Store at Kellogg Ranch located on the campus of Cal Poly Pomona for fall decorations. There, we always find a wide variety of pumpkins, different types of dried corn, even bouquets of wheat and huge bales of hay.
After a recent visit, we noticed that a flyer for their 19th annual Pumpkin Festival and decided to check it out. “Last year we had about 31,000 visitors,” said Courtney Habegger, the Student Ranch Manager helping oversee the sale of over 60,000 pumpkins available in the field in front of Farm Store. After picking out several a pile of pumpkins, Andrew Aguirre and his family gave us another reason to come to the festival — “we also came for the food” — as they steered us towards the roasted corn and tacos. We were also drawn to Cal Poly's own Dr Bob his ice cream stand, but first we explored the festival. Turn the page for photos from the festival. Although the festival won't back until next year, The Farm Store will continue to sell pumpkins and other fall produce until the end of October.
Cal Poly's Pumpkin field a few days before the Pumpkin Festival; Credit: D. Gonzalez
Cal Poly's Pumpkin Field during the Pumpkin Festival; Credit: D. Gonzalez
Ready to go pumpkin huntin'; Credit: D. Gonzalez
Pumpkin haul; Credit: D. Gonzalez
Fall decor
Dried strawberry and multicolored corn; Credit: D. Gonzalez
Corn stalks and wheat sheaves; Credit: D. Gonzalez
Mini orange, tiger baby and white pumpkins; Credit: D. Gonzalez
Jarradale, sugar and white pumpkins; Credit: D. Gonzalez
Turban, cinderella and harvest colored pumpkins; Credit: D. Gonzalez
Stripped acorn squash, gourds and blue hubbard squash; Credit: D. Gonzalez
Back to the Festival…
Student pancake dispenser; Credit: D. Gonzalez
Roasted corn; Credit: D. Gonzalez
Tough decisions at Dr. Bob's; Credit: D. Gonzalez
End of the day treat for photographer; Credit: D. Gonzalez
The Farm Store at Kellogg: Ranch 3801 West Temple Avenue, Pomona, (909) 979-6300
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