Annual Pumpkin Patch Opens on Santa Monica Blvd and 14th Street, Jack o'Lanterns for Sale

Santa Monica's annual pumpkin patch has reopened this year and sells, well, pumpkins. Of all shapes and sizes. And for $5, you can pet a goat.

The owner of the vacant lot uses it for parking 9 months of the year. In October it sells pumpkins, then becomes a Christmas tree lot in November. "He figures he doesn't need to build a tower and become rich," said one customer. "He just does it for the kids."

This years holiday event features a bounce house (more than one actually), and also a petting zoo.

And we wondered why that empty lot had not yet gone to AirBNB units, like every other vacant lot in Santa Monica!

Native to North America, pumpkins are widely grown for commercial use and are used both in food and recreation. Pumpkin pie, for instance, is a traditional part of Thanksgiving meals in Canada and the United States, and pumpkins are frequently carved as jack-o'-lanterns for decoration around Halloween, although commercially canned pumpkin puree and pumpkin pie fillings are usually made from different kinds of winter squash than the ones used for jack-o'-lanterns.