Pumpkin Purchases - The North County Moms

Where to Buy a Pumpkin 

This past weekend, we took our daughter to a pumpkin patch for the first time. She toddled her way along the paths around the pumpkins, looked at the turkeys and got to enjoy her first hayride.

My husband and I hadn’t been to a pumpkin patch since we were kids so we ended the visit with what we assumed everyone does at the pumpkin patch: We bought a large pumpkin. The cost: $18. We were a bit taken aback at the price, but we had no frame of reference for what a pumpkin should cost.

Then, we drove to our local grocery store and saw bins full of similar pumpkins for $6.99 each. “Is this a good deal?” a woman picking through a bin asked us when she heard us remarking on the difference in pumpkin price tags.

Like our fellow shopper, my husband and me, I bet that many people don’t have a frame of reference for what a pumpkin should cost. That’s why today’s hint is to consider buying your pumpkin at a local grocery store or superstore, especially if you’re watching your spending like we are.

To be sure, you’re going to find more selection at a pumpkin patch, going to a patch is a nice experience for kids and adults like, and it’s always nice to support local businesses. In addition, every area is different so pumpkin patches may be the cheaper alternative in some regions of the country.

Finally, the patch by us had free admission so we could have had the same experience regardless of how much we spent on a pumpkin. And we could have supported the business in other ways. We did go on a $3-a-person hayride, or we could have bought a tiny, less expensive pumpkin at the patch (the smallest ones were 75 cents each, only slightly above Safeway’s 69-cent versions), and made our bigger pumpkin purchase at the grocery store.

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