This June, round-ups at the register support the Co-op Pumpkin Patch, which celebrates 40 years of providing free farm field trips for local schoolchildren. Each child gets an educational experience at a real working farm and gets to take home a pumpkin of their own.
Even though pumpkins are often associated with fall, this tradition begins much earlier in the year. Our annual field trips to the farm take a lot of care, planning, and passion to make happen. By early spring, planning is already underway for farmers and Co-op staff. By late spring, carefully selected pumpkin varieties are planted in the ground, with seedlings already sprouting out of the earth just a few weeks later.

June is a very special time, when we reach out to the community and invite shoppers to participate by rounding up at the register to help fund the next year’s pumpkin patch field trips. Your support directly helps make these field trips possible, and it ensures that local school children get an opportunity to see farming in action, learn how local food is produced, and take home a pumpkin of their own choosing.

What started as a small, casual pumpkin patch has grown into a beloved 40-year tradition for many schools and generations across Humboldt County. Thank you so much for contributing and helping keep the field trips going strong.