Pumpkins photographed at a roadside pumpkin stand in Stanton. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo October 2026)
WHILE AT THE GROCERY STORE the other day, I picked up limited edition pumpkin spice bagels and pumpkin spice cream cheese spread. Yum. I crave the seasonal taste of pumpkin, not in excess, but just enough to satisfy me.
A sidewalk dining area, next to a parklet in downtown Northfield, features autumn decor that includes pumpkins. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo October 2026)
Every autumn, pumpkin prevails. If I wanted, I could have bought pumpkin spice coffee to go with my bagels. Or pumpkin spiced cereal or whatever other foods feature this flavor. The options seem endless.
I do have two cans of pumpkin in the cupboard for muffins. I probably won’t make a pie. Does anyone make pumpkin pie from scratch, from baked pumpkins, any more?
A sign along Minnesota State Highway 19 directs motorists to a roadside stand in Stanton. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo October 2026)
That brings me to roadside stands that pop up in Minnesota each autumn to sell pumpkins, squash and other garden goods. There’s something about a wagon loaded with bright orange orbs or a field of pumpkins that makes me break out in a wide smile.
A roadside produce stand in Stanton. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo October 2026)
Charles Schulz may have influenced my reaction. The Minnesota-born artist created the “Peanuts” cartoons. I grew up watching his animated cartoon TV specials, including “It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown.” There’s something endearing about a boy—Linus—sitting in the pumpkin patch waiting for the Great Pumpkin. His is a testament to unwavering hope and faith, trusting that the mighty pumpkin will appear.
Trust is essential for anyone running an untended, self-serve roadside stand like the ones I saw recently along Minnesota State Highway 19 in Stanton and also between Faribault and Northfield along State Highway 3. Pick your product and drop your money in a secured lock box. Now that’s trusting on the part of the vendor.
Pumpkins are incorporated into an autumn display outside Althoff’s Floral & Gifts in Cannon Falls. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo October 2026)
While picking from the pumpkin patch is mostly done with Halloween over and jack-o-lanterns carved, pumpkins are still in demand as Thanksgiving approaches. Or at least I think they are with pumpkins often centering autumnal décor in yards, planters, at businesses, inside sanctuaries and elsewhere.
Pumpkins, squash and gourds pack a wagon at a roadside stand in Stanton. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo October 2026)
Pumpkins in various sizes, shapes and colors, mixed with squash, gourds, corn and mums, make visually-appealing displays that say “autumn.” And I’m all about prolonging autumn for as long as possible before winter settles in for the next too many months.
I love the pops of color these seasonal stands add to the landscape, setting the mood for October and the fun festivities the month brings.
Pumpkins of all sizes and shapes for sale at the Little Prairie stand. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo September 2025)
Growers gather in the pumpkins, heaping them atop wagons for ease of display and purchase.
A payment box and price list for mums and other plants at a seasonal roadside stand in Stanton. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo September 2025)
Buying is made easy with secure drop boxes, pay on the honor system via cash, check or Venmo. I love the trust the sellers place in the buyers.
Oversized pumpkin art directs passing motorists’ attention to the Stanton pumpkin stand backed by a cornfield. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo September 2025)
Decorative Indian corn decorates the pumpkin wagon at Stanton. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo September 2025)
Beautiful potted mums for sale at the Stanton stand. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo September 2025)
I love, too, the signage, art and seasonal decorations which draw customers to stop and shop for pumpkins and often other goods like squash and mums.
Knucklehead pumpkins get their own display area at the Stanton stand. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo September 2025)
It all feels so good and earthy and connective, this buying direct from the grower who seeds, tends, harvests, markets. Locally-grown at its most basic.
A field of sunflowers, ideal for photo ops, grows next to pumpkins and corn at the Little Prairieroadside market. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo September 2025)
I love, too, how rural pumpkin stands pop up next to cornfields and occasionally sunflower fields. Sunflowers make me smile with their bright yellow blossoms. Sort of like thousands of smiley faces beaming happiness upon the land.
Getting in the spirit of Halloween on the Little Prairie pumpkin wagon along Highway 3. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo September 2025)
All these pumpkins placed for purchase prompt memories of Halloweens past. Of pulp and seeds scooped from pumpkins. Of pumpkins carved into jack-o-lanterns with toothy grins. Of jack-o-lanterns set on front steps and candles extinguished by the wind. Of pumpkins buried in drifts of snow in the Halloween blizzard of 1991 which dropped up to three feet of snow on parts of northern Minnesota and somewhat less here in southern Minnesota, but still a 20-inch storm total.
Pumpkins heap a wagon parked next to sunflower and corn fields at the Little Prairie stand along Highway 3. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo September 2025)
Pumpkins represent more than a prop or seasonal decoration. They represent nostalgia, stories, the past, the present, the timelessness of tradition. Those are the reasons I can’t pass a pumpkin stand without feeling grateful, without remembering the childhood Halloween when I clamped a molded plastic gypsy mask onto my face or the Halloween I fingered cow eyeballs (really cold grapes) at a party in the basement of a veterinarian’s home or all the years I crafted Halloween costumes for my three kids.
Unpicked pumpkins in the Little Prairie field. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo September 2025)
Then there’s the year I helped my father-in-law harvest pumpkins from his muddy patch in the cold and rain so he could take them to a roadside market in central Minnesota. Because of that experience, I understand the occasional challenges of getting pumpkins from vine to sale.
A cornfield backdrops the pumpkin wagon and signage at the Little Prairie pumpkin stand. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo September 2025)
I appreciate the growers who are offering all of us the beauty of autumn, the fun and fright of Halloween, and the gratitude of Thanksgiving with each pumpkin grown, picked and placed for sale at a roadside stand.
TELL ME: What does a pumpkin represent to you? Do you buy from roadside stands or elsewhere? I’d like to hear.
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