Mark your calendar to attend the original pumpkin patch in Ponte Vedra Beach, now in its 24th year at Lord of Life Lutheran Church on Roscoe Boulevard.
The pumpkin patch will open on Sunday, Oct. 8, and will sell pumpkins every day up until 5 p.m. on Halloween Day, or as long as they last.
“Every year we get a great assortment of pumpkins in unusual shapes and colors that are very popular, such as green, gray, cream, or with ‘warts’ on orange ones along with the classic, perfect carving pumpkin,” said Deb Nye, the head organizer of this annual event, which is the largest fundraiser that the church holds.
This year the church will give 10% of the profits from pumpkin sales to the St. Johns County charity, Pie in the Sky, that provides fresh produce, eggs, bread and soup to 1,200 seniors in the county who don’t have enough to eat.
Along with large pumpkins, the church has a very good assortment of mini pumpkins and gourds and sells homemade baked goods, including its famous pumpkin pies baked using pumpkins from the patch. Last year, Nye baked 150 pumpkin pies, which sell out almost as quickly as they come out of the oven.
Patch hours are Monday through Friday from 1 p.m. to dusk, Saturdays from 9 a.m. to dusk, and Sundays from 11 a.m. to dusk. It will host Family Fun Days the weekend of Oct. 14 and 15, with a slide, bounce house, face painting, games and a craft. New this year will be tractor rides every weekend from noon to 4 p.m. The patch will also be open all-day Monday, Oct. 16, when students are out of school in St. Johns County.
Lord of Life Lutheran Church is located at 276 Roscoe Blvd. North, in Ponte Vedra Beach. It is part of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, a church of about 4 million members that traces its roots back through the mid-17th century, when early Lutherans came to America from Europe.
