Check Out Pumpkin Prices In The Sarasota Area Before Visiting The Best Patch This Fall

SARASOTA, FL — Pumpkins are a common fall item to pick up, yet some looking for the best ways to decorate for Halloween in the Sarasota area may not be aware of how much to spend on the item often purchased at fields and patches throughout the area.

Here are some of the pumpkin patches you’ll want to check out in the region:

• Fruitville Grove, 7410 Fruitville Road in Sarasota, hosts its 33rd annual Pumpkin Festival with a pumpkin patch and other fall activities.
• Hunsader Farms, 5500 C.R. 675 in Bradenton, hosts its 30th annual Pumpkin Festival Oct. 16-17, 23-24 and 30-31, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Admission is $12 per person and $5 to park. Children 10 and younger are free. The festival includes a pumpkin patch, craft show, live music and shows, hayrides, pony rides, a corn maze, a pioneer trades village, a petting zoo and more.
• Pumpkin Patch Express, 12210 83rd Street in East Parrish, is a popular trip from the Florida Railroad Museum takes you to a patch of pumpkins. Children are invited to pick their own pumpkin to take home. Everyone is also invited to participate in the hayride. Lincoln log building, crafts and other activities offered at no additional charge. Coach seating is $19 for adults and $15 for children. First-class, excursion and group seating is also available.

The average price of a pumpkin nationally has fluctuated a bit over the past four Halloween seasons, numbers from the market research company Statistica show. A pumpkin went for about $4.18 average apiece in 2020, up from $4.04 in 2019. That’s consistent with the $4.12 U.S. consumers spent on average for a pumpkin in 2017. Average prices took a dip to $3.89 per pumpkin in 2018.

About 46 percent of the American population carved pumpkins during the 2020 Halloween season, the National Retail Federation estimates. That’s about 151 million people, and only slightly more than the number who carved pumpkins in the most recent pre-pandemic Halloween seasons.

Pumpkins of all sizes can be found in numerous big-box stores, and community farmers markets across the country. Sorting pumpkins by the bin is a more common practice among smaller pumpkin sellers.

Pumpkins are also sold by the pound. The average price per pound is $1.38 for consumers, statistics from the U.S. Department of Agriculture show. That means a 10- or 14-pound pumpkin could cost from $14 to $20 apiece.