A festive fall welcome

September/October 2022 California Bountiful magazine

Central Valley farm supplies 
pumpkins for seasonal décor

Story by Christine Souza
Photos by Kristen Prieto

Celebrating harvest is a tradition that has spanned centuries. Shorter days, cooler weather and the arrival of pumpkin-spiced lattes also signal that it is time to gather pumpkins in all colors, shapes and sizes to celebrate fall.

“I decorate my porch every season just because it makes me happy when I pull into the driveway. It’s the first thing I see,” says Kimberly Joy Rocca of Dakota Acres, a Fresno County pumpkin décor business that she operates with her farmer-husband Nick Rocca. “It’s about curb appeal. Your front porch is the first welcoming greeting that makes your home uniquely yours. It’s a greeting from your curb, so everybody can enjoy it.”

Beginning in late September, Nick “Uncle Pumpkin” Rocca, who also grows grapes for raisins and runs a farm management company, typically harvests about 15 heirloom pumpkin varieties that were planted in May and June. 

Kimberly Rocca, a designer and event planner, uses the colorful orbs as inspiration and combines them with materials such as flowers, cornstalks, hay and ribbon to create seasonal arrangements and front-porch designs for home and business clients. 

Colorful choices

Many people are familiar with the round, orange pumpkins that appear each fall, but Kimberly Rocca says Dakota Acres offers a variety of pumpkins, squash and gourds that range in size, shape, color and texture to inspire beautiful autumn designs. Today’s pumpkins, she explains, can be multicolored with hues ranging from pastel pink, blue or green to bright red, orange or yellow. 

“We’ll have clients who want something different than the traditional orange and it makes it more fun,” she says. “One lady wanted all pastel pumpkins, so I designed an arrangement of all white, pinks in a variety called the Pink Lady and a blue pumpkin called the Jarrahdale.”

As inspiration for fall décor, the farm grows varieties known for shape or color, such as the flatter, red-orange Cinderella pumpkin and the pastel-orange Fairytale. It also grows white varieties, such as the midsized Lumina and the larger Polar Bear, which are gaining in popularity. Oversized pumpkins, such as the Atlantic Giant that can weigh as much as 200 pounds, are another specialty. 

“We grow a Knucklehead that is technically a jack-o’-lantern that has a lot of warts, which offers great height and texture,” Rocca says. “Sometimes we have leopards, which are a spotted, blue pumpkin and creates some great depth. The Turk’s Turban is green on top with red and white stripes on the bottom and looks like an acorn.” 

Dakota Acres is focused on pumpkins for fall decorations, but Rocca says the Cinderella and the Fairytale are also good for eating. “Not all pumpkin varieties are created equal as far as taste,” Rocca says.

Custom creations

Pumpkin-inspired creations by Dakota Acres may be tailored based on color and texture, personal style and the size of location in need of ornamentation. Kimberly Rocca’s creative process happens at a worktable in her rustic shed, where she arranges pumpkins and gourds and incorporates seasonal materials such as flowers, dried cornstalks and hay. Inspiration, she says, “comes from whatever is spinning in my head.” Last year, it was candy-corn hues that found their way into her arrangements. 

“I often have clients who give me a color scheme that they prefer, similar to when you tell a florist what flower color you want,” she says. “Depending on size and scale, there are ways to use design elements accordingly to fit your home.”  

Interested in a custom design, Genelle Taylor Kempe of Fresno became a neighborhood trendsetter with a design from Dakota Acres, adding that “the front porch looked absolutely stunning.” 

“I like to have a lot of décor but tastefully done and something that can last from October into the fall and Thanksgiving, and pumpkins just transition very nicely,” says Kempe, noting that Rocca designed a “porch scape” at her home of 60 assorted pumpkins and gourds in fall colors of bright orange, creams and light green. 

For a personalized porch design, which starts at $400, Rocca visits the location, takes measurements and returns with a load of pumpkins and supplies needed to create a design that lasts all season. 

Those looking to create their own pumpkin designs may order a “pumpkin drop” of assorted pumpkins and gourds. Dakota Acres also delivers pumpkins as gifts, such as baskets of assorted pumpkins and gourds packed in straw with a grapevine wreath, dried fall foliage and a ribbon.

If the client desires it, Rocca collects leftover pumpkins at the season’s end. She says these are fed in moderation, according to diet, to the farm’s barn animals, including horses, goats and miniature donkeys. 

Out on the farm

The location where pumpkins are grown is not open to the public like a traditional pumpkin patch, but the Roccas rent the space for private events that include a personal pumpkin-picking experience for guests. Dakota Acres also is an educational stop for local kindergarteners each season. 

“The kindergarteners learn the life cycle of a pumpkin and about pollination. They feed our barn animals, go on a hayride and each kindergartener leaves with a mini pumpkin to take home,” Rocca says. “It’s cute each year to see how they realize, 

‘Oh, this is actually where the pumpkins grow.’”  

During pandemic-related closures that impacted Kimberly Rocca’s event-planning business in 2020, the couple reshaped their homegrown heirloom pumpkin hobby into a business to supplement lost income—and also to spread joy and give back to the community.

“Dakota Acres is a family love. It started as a hobby for us and it’s something that still brings us joy,” Kimberly Rocca says. “It’s fun to get to work together to bring joy to people’s doorsteps.”  

Christine Souza

Seven tips for growing
a great pumpkin

Growing pumpkins is a family affair, says Nick “Uncle Pumpkin” Rocca, a Fresno County farmer who grows about 15 varieties of pumpkins and gourds each year.

“The kids get a new responsibility every year. Last year, they put a couple seeds in the ground and this year they’ll plant a whole row themselves,” says Rocca, a father of two. “My son, Mack, he’ll help me with fertilizer and I’ll have him go out and go check for bugs or check for flowers, so he’s learning as we go.”

Here are Rocca’s tips for growing a great pumpkin:

1. Sow pumpkin seeds between 65 and 95 degrees. Pumpkin seeds are sensitive to the cold.

2. Father’s Day weekend is the timing we aim for to plant pumpkins.

3. Pumpkins grow in either vine or bush varieties. Choose your variety based on the amount of space you have.

4. If growing in hotter climates, develop a substantial root profile to withstand the heat stress.

5. Seaweed products promote a strong root profile.

6. One pumpkin per vine will allow healthier, bigger pumpkins. Thin the rest of the female flowers.

7. Not all pumpkins taste the same. If you plan to eat them, choose a variety meant for consumption. Our favorites are Pumpkin Pie, Fairytale and Casper.