You don’t have to like pumpkins to enjoy Larry’s Pumpkin Patch.

Monday, October 08, 2001

You don’t have to like pumpkins to enjoy Larry’s Pumpkin Patch.

There’s also a haunted house, live animals, a &uot;maze through the Garden of Weedin’,&uot; games for the kids and a walking trail.

But of course there are plenty of pumpkins too.

Larry Alvey opened his 17th annual Pumpkin Patch Friday. It will be open weekdays from 1-6 p.m. and weekends from noon-6 p.m. through October.

Alvey got interested in pumpkin patches back in his college days. He visited a friend whose family in Kalamazoo, Mich., had a patch.

&uot;When I moved back to my grandfather’s farm I decided to start my own patch,&uot; he said.

At first, Alvey picked the pumpkins himself and piled them up.

&uot;But I found out people like to walk in the patch and look through the weeds to discover where they’re at,&uot; he said.

Over the years, he’s added attractions, like a haunted house in one of the outbuildings; 1 Pumpkin Place, a kids’ playhouse decorated inside with thank you notes and a Scooby Doo movie playing on the VCR; bowling; mini-golf; a basketball hoop; checkers played with gourds; a ring toss; and animals, including Elmer the pig, Big and Little, the pot-bellied pigs, goats, sheep, cats and a friendly dog named Goldie.

&uot;It’s mainly here just to enjoy,&uot; Alvey said. &uot;If nothing else, people can just come out to walk in the country, and forget about some of the other stuff that’s going on for a while.&uot;

Inside the shed for the pigs, a sign asks visitors not to disturb the cobwebs. &uot;It’s taken us years at the Patch to cultivate these webs for your viewing!&uot;

Alvey said this year’s crop is exceptional, especially the pie pumpkins. He planted three different varieties, plus carving pumpkins. There are also mini-boo white pumpkins, squash and gourds.

Alvey hand-plants the pumpkins in June. This year, he had 12,000 hills (two seeds per hill), and it took him a week to plant the patch. He put the leftover seeds on the north side of the driveway, so there are some growing in the weeds there too.

Alvey said the Pumpkin Patch always has pumpkins for 50 cents. The top price for any pumpkin is $8.

It’s not unusual for the Pumpkin Patch to have more than 5,000 visitors each year. In 1999, 5,757 visitors were recorded. In 2000, there were again more than 5,000. Alvey said he loosely keeps track of visitors by handing out stickers. Last year, he had 5,000 stickers and ran out before the end of the season. Many preschool and school groups visit each year, Alvey added.

People can get more information on the Pumpkin Patch by visiting its Web site at www.angelfire.com/mn/pumpkinPatchofAL.

On his Web site, Alvey includes recipes for pumpkin pie and roasted pumpkin seeds.

To get to the Pumpkin Patch, travel west on County Road 24 from the Skyline Mall intersection. Turn left on County Road 71 for one-half mile. The Pumpkin Patch is on the right side of the road.