Business & Tech

Saratoga's Queens Pumpkin Patch Delights Young Children, Parents

Acre lot on Saratoga and Cox avenues has been a city tradition for about 30 years, managers say.

It's open!

Queens Pumpkin Patch, an annual tradition for more than a quarter century in our area, opened Oct. 1 at 12985 Saratoga Ave. to the delight of local children and parents excited about the fall and Halloween season.

Wanda and Cliff Peel have been managing the popular patch for the past two years, but it's been under the ownership of the same family—Kevin Cuny—for probably 30 years, said Cliff Peel, the patch's manager.

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Cuny lives in Alamo, not in Saratoga, but likes to offer his nearly one-acre local property to the community to sell pumpkins and get children ready to carve their jack-o'-lanterns.

"It's a great fall tradition in Saratoga. We have so much fun," said Wanda Peel as the patch's customers Friday afternoon grew in numbers of young children, mostly toddlers with their moms.

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It's estimated about 3,000 people visited the patch last year, many moms or nannies with children and families picking pumpkins together, Cliff Peel said.

Mornings are dominated by play dates, and later in the season the patch attracts Halloween enthusiasts who want to decorate their homes for the holiday, he said.

The patch, which is opened seven days a week from 9 a.m.- 9 p.m., features free children's movies at 7 p.m. Fridays, which are shown on the side of the large tent under which most of the retail items for sale are located.

An average large pumpkin is about $16, but they range between four miniature ones for $1 to $45 and $60 for those that "take two good men to carry," Cliff Peel said.

The pumpkins at the Queens Pumpkin Patch are obtained from local growers -often from Half Moon Bay - but other items being sold at the lot include bales of hay, corn and gourds.

The patch also features a free petting zoo and free popcorn. "It's a great time. We have adults bringing their children who came when they were their children's age. It's a family tradition in Saratoga," Cliff Peel said.

Cindi Devitt-Carolan, a Campbell mom who had four children under the age of 4 visiting the patch last week, said Queens Pumpkin Patch is one of her favorites.

"The kids love it here. It's catered to a younger group and it's not so commercialized," Devitt-Carolan said.

And Santa Clara mom Lauren Silvestri couldn't keep 2-year-old son Raylan Schlesinger away from all the giant pumpkins displayed on the ground. He couldn't decide which one to take home.


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