Pumpkin Pickin’ Time

Even with daytime temps still in the mid-80s, the evening’s cool breeze and the trees’ changing tips are telling us that fall is indeed here. And with fall’s arrival comes a slew of weekend activities, like cheering on the Hogs at the Reynolds Razorback Stadium, riding bikes along the newly-lit Scull Creek Trail and visiting a local pumpkin patch to pick out your jack-o-lantern for your porch’s fall décor.

David and Deana Dickey, owners of Dickey Farms, run and cultivate over 20 acres just south of Tontitown – a beautiful swath of tree-lined land that runs down a hillside and alongside Wedington Woods National Forest. With the greenest thumb I’ve ever witnessed, David grows everything from tomatoes to apples to red roses, and just about anything in between. This year’s crop includes an interesting variety of pumpkins and squash – some used purely for decoration, and some used for baking and cooking – for a sweet pumpkin pie, cheesy squash lasagna or roasted in the oven.

Dickey Farms Pumpkin Patch

Beginning this fall season, David and his family will be opening their pumpkin patch to the public. Guests will have free reign of the patch, and will be able to tromp around in the vines and rifle through the foliage in order to find their perfect pumpkin – a short squatty Cinderella, a perfectly-shaped Spartan or a gnarly Blue Hubbard, just to name a few. Prices start around 30¢ per pound, and the shapes, sizes and colors of these beauties are endless. If David has the time, he may even give guests a quick tour of the farm, including the adorable pet chickens in the chicken coop. He also offers group tours of the farm to larger parties. Running October 1st through November 1st, the pumpkin patch will be open Monday through Saturday from 9:00am until dark.

Spartan Pumpkin

This year, instead of buying your pumpkin out of a cardboard bin filled with mediocre specimens, go to the source. Grab your family, grab your friends and make your pumpkin picking a memorable and educational event rather than a hasty decision at the grocery store. David and his family have a passion for growing food and teaching people about farming, and visiting the pumpkin patch this season is the perfect way to take advantage of this family’s knowledge, hard work and beautiful fall bounty.

Contact Information:
David and Deana Dickey
Dickey Farms
14306 Wildcat Creek Road
Springdale, AR 72762
(479) 361-9975
[email protected]

Directions to the farm are simple: Travel west through Tontitown on Highway 412. Just past Ranalli Farms, look for Harmon Road on the left. Turn left onto Harmon Road and travel south for about one mile. Harmon road makes a 90 degree turn to the left. As you enter the turn, Wildcat Creek Road is on the right. Turn right onto Wildcat Creek Road. Follow this road until the pavement ends. Proceed on gravel about 1/4 mile, and stay left at the fork. The pumpkin patch will be on the left side of the road and the farmstead on the right. Signs for the pumpkin patch should be going up soon. (See map below)

If the above slideshow doesn’t load, please visit the entire set from Dickey Farms on our Flickr page.

Map to Dickey Farms

View Dickey Farms in a larger map