Petaluma’s tastes of fall

Beyond pumpkins, local patches offer culinary treats.|

Petaluma sits squarely in the heart of the farm-to-table movement, and the local fall pumpkin patches reflect that ethos. Besides typical activities like hunting for the perfect gourd, hay rides and bounce houses, Petaluma’s pumpkin patches offer an array of locally grown and prepared food. Here are some of the highlights:

The Great Peter Pumpkin Patch, at 4235 Spring Hill Road, features pasta from the Pasta King. This old world pesto recipe will transport you straight to the Pasta King’s homeland in the Liguria region of Northern Italy. Sandwiches are also available at the snack table.

Located at Spring Hill Dairy, this patch offers free tastings of organic Spring Hill Jersey Cheese. Try the 2-year aged cheddar, reminiscent of tangy English cheddars. Also available is Petaluma Creamery’s award-winning ice cream, churned from extra creamy Jersey cow milk.

A live band keeps things festive and folky on the weekends, and other than the food and the picking - pumpkins, tomatoes, peppers and potatoes - everything is free. This includes parking, cow milking, pig poking and rolling around in the corn box with your kids.

Petaluma Pumpkin Patch, at 450 Stony Point Road, is the one with the “Amazing Corn Maze.” Petaluma Hills Brewery Company gives homage to the traffic caused by Hwy. 101 drivers gawking at this patch as they drive by. Pumpkin Patch Traffic Jam Ale is a subtle pumpkin flavored beer, with hints of cinnamon and cloves.

Visitors will be pleasantly surprised to see Fish On! Chips serving up fresh made fish ‘n chips, burgers, dogs and wedge fries. Bariadelli Caribbean Gourmet Pizzas offers jerk chicken pizza, shrimp pizza and an islander combo pizza. Real Cool is on hand with tempting handmade fresh fruit popsicles, and is currently highlighting the hyper-local sweet/tart Gravenstein apple with a sugar-free Gravenstein Apple-Ginger pop. If you want to take home a tasty memento, the patch offers its own Pumpkin Pecan Butter.

Tolay Fall Festival, at 5869 Lakeville Hwy., is really a full-blown festival, drawing crowds from all over the Bay Area. Kids will likely tire out long before they run out of things to learn, craft, ride on and play with. Ask a Ranger to show you the barn owl that lives in the rafters of the big wood barn.

The food at Tolay is great, but plan ahead. With so many people, the lines can get long, especially at some of the specialty food trucks. If the little ones are cranky, the hot-dog cart churns ‘em out quickly. However, if you can time your meal right, Red Horse Pizza had some great artisan pizzas and Diaz Catering’s food truck serves delicious shrimp and fish tacos. Three Twins Ice Cream and a funnel cake booth will help feed your sweet tooth.

McClelland’s Dairy & Organic Pumpkin Patch, at 6475 Bodega Ave., is on the dairy that has been in Jana McClelland’s family since the mid-1960s. No visit is complete without a crock of McClelland’s European Style Organic Artisan Butter.

McClelland’s butter won a double gold medal at this year’s Harvest Fair. Taste it and you will be surprised that this was their first double gold.

The menu at McClelland’s is filled with organic items, starting with an organic hot dog on a gluten free bun. Chili can be added, and why not? Apples, oranges, organic cheese sticks and organic Annie’s crackers and fruit snacks are also available. Hot apple cider is also on the menu, as well as caramel apples, pumpkin pie and more award winning ice cream from Petaluma Creamery.

There are plenty of activities for the kids, including a cowboy roping area, haunted house, pedal tractor races, two sizes of jumpy houses and a wheat box, which is a sandbox filled with wheat seeds. There is a farm animal petting zoo but for those interested in learning more about a working dairy, there are tours available too, including the opportunity to milk a cow and taste McClelland’s butter.

Pronzini Pumpkin Patch, at 3795 Adobe Rd., is new kid on the block, although the Pronzini family has been selling Christmas trees on Adobe Road for more than 50 years. Their pumpkin patch features hot dogs, homemade cookies and pumpkin bread, with plans to expand food offerings next year to include a BBQ food truck. This patch is unique with a haunted trail, native village and a great collection of old farm trucks.

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