Celebrate the Harvest Season! Join us at The Great Pumpkin Patch!

In this episode of Mid-American Gardener, we visit The Great Pumpkin Patch in Arthur, Illinois, a sixth-generation working family farm. The Great Pumpkin Patch offers over 300 varieties of cucurbits, including heirloom varieties with unique histories and flavors. They also have diverse farm animals, beautiful mum varieties, fun mazes, outdoor displays, live music, and an Amish bakery on site.

The Condill Family is proud of their enormous variety of pumpkins, squash and gourds and may even be the most diverse cucurbit patch in the world. Their pumpkins and harvest displays have been featured on Martha’s Stewart’s programs, at the White House, and at the Illinois Governor's Mansion. However, their main mission is to reconnect people with agriculture and encourage them to bring in those pumpkins off the front porch and onto their dinner plates.

Mac Condill, owner of The Great Pumpkin Patch, is always excited to showcase the diversity of cucurbits and their many uses. While the United States doesn’t often consume cucurbits, they are actually the third most popular plant family for human consumption throughout the course of history—consumed even more than potatoes, peppers, and tomatoes! His mission is to invite people—particularly those in the United States—to discover the many culinary uses for cucurbits. They might look pretty on your Thanksgiving table, but try including a few in your meal too! 

Illinois has the perfect climate to grow these vegetables, which is why the Condill family has such great success growing cucurbits from all around the world right here in Central Illinois. Mac shares his tips for home gardeners in this episode. His biggest suggestion is to think outside the box for growing space—use your fence, old trees, or even a patio pot!

Mac also gives us a few tricks to keep your fall mums looking happy and healthy throughout the entire harvest season.

Finally, we visit The Children’s Garden, and Mac shares a bit about the mission of The Great Pumpkin Patch—to reconnect children (young and old!) with the land and give them hands-on experiences at a working farm.