WEST JORDAN, Utah — An unmistakable, fall fruit will soon be ripe for the picking in Utah.
The Schmidt Family Farm in West Jordan is a popular destination for pumpkin picking in Salt Lake County.
According to Ryan Schmidt, a fourth-generation farmer, they’re now preparing the pumpkin patch for its 20th season.
The family grows 20-30 varieties of pumpkins on the five, separate plots of land that they lease. Schmidt showed FOX 13 News one of the fields in Bluffdale that contains seven acres worth of the fruit.
As he reached through one of the many leafy canopies, Schmidt pulled out an orange pumpkin, “It’s still kind of green but getting close…got a nice little handle on it,” he said.
Schmidt explained most of the pumpkins in the field are too green for picking right now, but he expects they’ll be ready to harvest by mid-October.
That’s somewhat later than usual because last spring brought wetter and cooler weather.
Despite that, he says the crop looks, “…much better than it has in past years.”
Schmidt said 2022 was a challenging year for his farm along with many others statewide because the weather was too hot and dry.
“Even though you’re irrigating, it’s still stressful on the plants when it’s that hot and dry,” he explained.
While Mother Nature may be taking it easier on the crop this year, inflation isn’t. Prices have gone up on products needed to grow and harvest healthy pumpkins including fertilizer and diesel fuel.
Schmidt said they haven’t settled on a price for their pumpkins just yet but he anticipates it’ll be higher than last year. Despite the possible price hike, he’s striving for it to be a good value for customers.
In 2022, they charged 40-45 cents per pound, which translates to $4-$5 for a 10lb pumpkin.
Schmidt Family Farm plans to open its pumpkin patch on September 29.
