Pumpkin patches surging in West Virginia

BRIDGEPORT, W.Va (WDTV) – Halloween is coming up which means people everywhere are putting pumpkins outside their house. But the question arises, where can you get these pumpkins?

Pumpkin patches have recently gotten more and more popular and north central West Virginia has seen multiple people take advantage of that.

It’s fall in West Virginia and with that comes pumpkin season. From carving pumpkins for decoration to using them for food and beverage, fall is the season.

With that comes the business of pumpkin patches. Along with the field of pumpkins to pick from, there are typically other activities like a hayride or a corn maze.

Pappy Jacks in Shinnston is in their first year of operation and offer several different things for all attendees to do, including some fun activities for the kids.

“We really felt a need in the Shinnston and surrounding areas to have something for the kids and families to come do and so we try to provide something for the weekend for all families around,” said Chad Pill, owner of Pappy Jacks.

While the pumpkin patches don’t open until September, the setup for them starts long before that. Pappy Jacks began their preparation months in advance.

Poplar Island in Fairmont is in their fourth year of operation and their preparation has turned into a year around process.

“The process is all year long,” said Frankie Delapas, co-owner of Poplar Island. “We might get a little bit of a break in January but then we’re back at it. But, there’s a lot of preparation that goes into the corn maze, the hayride, and of course the pumpkins it’s just a year long process.”

Poplar Island offers a corn maze and even a haunted trail, where you might run into mothman.

The patch has a hayride of their own as well where you’ll be accompanied by the mascot, Jack the rescue dog.

Some patches in the area even offer a petting zoo, which is what The Patch at the Harvest Festival was offering on their last day of operation.

The Harvest Festival began as just a small thing for close friends and family, but has slowly grown bigger and bigger, with over 800 people attending on Saturday.

“This is our sixth year,” said Morgan Norman, owner of The Patch. “The first year was really small, it was during covid and we just did family and close friends and then it has escalated every year. Yesterday we had about 800 people come through so it has gotten to be pretty big.”

While today may have been the last day of the harvest festival, time to get a pumpkin has not run out.

Both Pappy Jacks and Poplar Island will remain open every weekend until November 2.

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