Since the early 1990s, St. John’s United Methodist Church of Santa Fe has been selling pumpkins to benefit church ministries like its food pantry for hungry people. The pumpkin patch is located at the church on the corner of Old Pecos Trail and Cordova Road. KSFR’s Mary Lou Cooper interviewed Pastor Matt Bridges to get the details.
The patch is a unique partnership between the for-profit Pumpkin Patch Fundraisers, Inc. (who lease the land, buy seeds, pay for labor and transportation etc.) and churches and non-profits across America. The pumpkins are grown by Navajos on land near Farmington, New Mexico.
St. John’s sells about 40,000 pounds of pumpkins each year. The church receives 40 percent of its estimated $37,000 in sales.
It’s an intergenerational experience for the Santa Fe community. Parents who once ran through the patch now bring their kids to do the same. The pumpkin patch is staffed by volunteers and is open every day from 9 a.m.-6 p.m. through October 31. Enjoy the pumpkin patch eclipse watch on October 14, pet blessings and adoptions on October 22, and Trunk or Treat on October 29. Check out http://www.sjumcsantafe.org/ for more information.
