The harvest season is in full swing at Crystal Bay Farm, a family-run farm in Watsonville specializing in pumpkins, winter and heirloom squash, berries and more.
The annual pumpkin patch is currently covered in skeletons and skulls, ghouls and ghosts, spiderwebs and more for the lead up to Halloween on Oct. 31.
Owners and farmers Lori and Jeff Fiorovich oversee the property on the corner of San Andreas and Zils Road. The farm has been certified organic since 1997, and began its focus on pumpkins about 15 years ago.
“Halloween is like our Christmas,” Lori Fiorovich said. “We just love it. We love sharing in the fun with everyone.”
The annual pumpkin patch opened this year on Oct. 1, and business has been steadily growing. The farm offers around 10 varieties of orange pumpkins, most that grow with hearty, thick stems.
This year’s pumpkins are on average much bigger than last year, Lori Fiorovich said. They planted an extra quarter-acre dedicated solely to bigger varieties, which usually pull only one or two pumpkins (compared to smaller kinds that produce five to eight).
“The bigger the pumpkin, the bigger the smile, the bigger the face on your jack-o-lantern,” she said.
Crystal Bay Farm also offers U-pick strawberries, and sells small edible squash at its on-site farmstead. This includes some winter heirloom squash varieties that are in the Ark of Taste, an international catalogue of endangered heritage foods.
On a recent Tuesday afternoon, a group of volunteers were busy unloading and arranging more pumpkins into the patch. Crystal Bay is part of Worldwide Opportunities on Organic Farms (WWOOF), a worldwide movement to link travelers with organic farms. Volunteers come and participate in the daily life of their host farm, receiving free room and board in exchange for their work.
“And they get an education,” Fiorovich said. “They’ll leave here knowing more about pumpkins than they probably ever wanted to. You might not know what a hybrid squash is… but by the time you leave here, oh, you’ll know!”
Abigail McComas, who is visiting from Northern California, agreed.
“I’m already telling my friends all of the squash facts,” she said. “It’s great, getting more hands-on experience. It’s more than just studying, you’re actually harvesting. It’s more real.”
Added Sam Casey of Boston, Mass.: “It’s a great way to volunteer and travel. It’s really fun.”
After a year of schools being closed, Crystal Bay Farm will also return to hosting field trips starting on the 15th, and through the end of the month.
“I’m super excited about that,” Fiorovich said. “I didn’t realize how much I missed them, the joy they bring to the farm.”
The farm hosts live music on the weekends, including local band Nomalakadoja this Sunday at 1pm, and occasionally invites vendors to set up near the farmstead to sell their wares. Food trucks will be on site Sunday and on Oct. 23.
“Halloween is a time to unleash that inner child in all of us,” Fiorovich said, “to be silly and have fun. That’s what we want to do here.”
Crystal Bay Farm is located at 40 Zils Road and is open daily 10am-6pm. Follow on Facebook for daily updates.
