Driving from coastal Maine westward to New Hampshire, the foliage colours began to change a bit more. Even though I was totally enjoying myself along the coast, I did look forward to seeing some fall foliage as I moved inland.
I drove from Rockport to Maine’s capital Augusta, then continued on some small country roads towards Bethel and Gilead before crossing the State line to Gorham, New Hampshire. It was a pleasure driving through these more remote parts of the country, for the routes offer some gratifying scenery:
But it was the colour orange on the ground that caught my eyes. From afar, they were tiny orange dots in the field:
A bit closer I knew, of course, that was a pumpkin patch. And it was orange that would be the predominant colour everywhere, in towns and in the country.
On flatbeds and wagons:
Or laid out neatly in arrays on grass:
In various shapes and forms:
At door fronts, entrances, in hanging baskets and shop windows:
Or in the form of pumpkin people:
Or as pumpkin elves like these two sitting outside Elf Academy:
No wonder there’s a shortage of pumpkins in the U.S. as the demand is so high. With recent crops diminished by record rain, there arose a pumpkin shortage. Help is on the way though. Here’s a recent headline on CBC News Business section:
“Canadian pumpkin patches poised to fix U.S. lack-o’-lanterns problem.”
What are neighbors for?
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This is my Saturday Snapshot October 17 entry. Saturday Snapshot is hosted by West Metro Mommy Reads. CLICK HERE to see what others have posted.
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Ripple Effects 
Wow — what a wonderful collection of eye-catching color! One of my new company’s main products is in orange packaging so there’s plenty of orange-themed swag sitting around (water bottles, blocks of orange-edged stickies, etc.). Fun seeing the porch displays on offer 😉
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nikkipolani,
Before this trip, most of the pumpkins I’d seen had all been mostly in stores. Never seen a pumpkin patch before. So these sights were pleasant and refreshing, amazed at how creative folks can be in greeting the Autumn season. Looks like you’re working for a fun company. 😉
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What a great post! I’ve never seen a pumpkin field like that. Who would think you could be so creative with a pumpkin? We Australians just eat them- we have them year round.
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Louise,
Thanks. And I’m glad you’ve enjoyed my post. I admit our use of pumpkins aren’t so versatile than these folks in New England. Interesting how people from different countries use pumpkins quite differently.
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I loved seeing the abundance of pumpkins. We have some at stores, but no pumpkin patches or gorgeous displays like these. Thank you so much for sharing.
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Judy B,
I too see them mostly in stores. So that’s why I needed to stop the car along the roadway and take pictures; people are ok with me taking photos and not actually buying. 😉
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Wow! So many pumpkins!
I have seen green ones in the vegetable markets here.
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Indrani,
Ours are orange, but interesting to see some white ones in the above photos. Never seen any green ones. Thanks for stopping by.
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Thanks for sharing these beautiful pictures!
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My pleasure. Thanks for stopping by the and leaving some ripples in my New England posts.
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What wonderful shots of the pumpkins, and I love the trees changing colour.
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Ginny,
Will post fall foliage soon. Orange had been the popular colour during my road trip.
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Thanks for your generosity in helping the pumpkin shortage. I’ve been having a time finding canned pure pumpkin for some recipes…
Wonderful photos that scream FALL!
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Ellen,
Glad we can be of help. Don’t think we crave pumpkins as much as you people do. Always love to share whatever we have (in excess.) 😉
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I love those pumpkin people. Never seen them before!
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Denise,
It’s so interesting how people celebrate Autumn and the harvest season in different countries. I don’t usually see pumpkin people and esp. with them sitting on haystacks. Those hay stacks look like decorations for our Calgary Stampede in July. 😉
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Great photos nothing says Autumn more than orange 🍁🍂
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Absolutely. Thanks for coming by in your busy schedule, Charlotte. 😉
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Wild about color and wild about orange. How I love New England in the fall — all the pumpkins, the scarecrows, the hay bales, the cornstalks… Yes, we see it here too, but much more so there. How I love this post and love that you finally got some color!
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Your area is on my list of places to see. Some day… 😉
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Those pumpkin elves are hilarious! We are not having a shortage of pumpkins here. In my own garden or at the various farms around the cities. I rode my bike past a farm this weekend with a huge pile of pumpkins for sale. Definitely eye catching!
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Stefanie,
Uneven distribution, I’ll say. Here in Cowtown, I see a lot of them too but mainly in food markets, chained grocery stores.
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There are fields of pumpkins in Texas, too. In fact, Floydada (the town from which those 20 naked Pentecostals in the Pontiac came!) bills itself the pumpkin capital of the world. And yes: at all the farm and ranch gates, there are pumpkin people, and so on.
I’m glad you got to see wuch a variety of displays. And there are some varieties of pumpkins in your photo I’ve never seen. The small, sugar pumpkins are in now, and pumpkin-puree-making-time is upon us. There’s just no comparing the canned stuff to homemade puree. It’s good for pumpkin bars, pumpkin bread, pumpkin-ginger cookies, pumpkin pie, pumpkin pancakes… I could go on, but I won’t!
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Linda,
Yes, a variety of them and impressed that they are placed in so neat arrays. But what’s surprising is seeing the albino pumpkins. 😉
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