I thought this would be a nice alternative to the giant, crowded, carnival-like pumpkin patches in the area and I was right. Peterson's Farm is a small working farm in a hilly rural area just outside of Petaluma. Don't expect a huge parking lot, jumpy houses, sprawling corn mazes and haunted houses. Peterson's is small, intimate, quaint, and low-key. The grounds are very pretty with many trees, barns and fields, etc. However, the patch is rather small and I agree with another reviewer who mentioned the pumpkin selection was pretty slim for early October. They probably have a lot of schools going there to pick up pumpkins during the week. On the grounds you'll find adorable cows, bunnies, ponies, chickens, and geese that you can feed. There are many beehives, a couple apple trees, and a small barn where you can purchase honey and other things like tomatoes and soap (if they have any in stock). The farm is perfect for small children or babies. I wish the areas surrounding the patch were a little more maintained. There are a few dilapidated fences and structures that are laying around in piles and instead of being removed, just have caution tape around them. These "props" did not look good in the background of the photos I was trying to shoot of my toddler picking a pumpkin. Overall this place is really cute and perfect for small children. They have wagons that you can take out to the field to haul your pumpkins back. Luckily, Peterson's doesn't get too crowded on the weekends and there was plenty of parking in their small lot. The pumpkins are reasonably priced according to size, rather than weight. Bring cash because they don't take cards. read more

Peterson's Farm - people walking through a field of pumpkins - Fruits & Veggies Near Me - Petaluma, California

Went here today for a hunt through the pumpkin patch. This is a small, family owned farm. If you're looking for a spot to pick up a pumpkin, have your child (or your friend's children, or your dog, or your boyfriend) pose next to a giant cardboard cutout of Elvira or Frankenstein, or Divine... This isn't the place to go. If you're afraid of dirt and mud, chickens, honeybees, cows, ponies, or, well... REAL LIFE, like where your food really comes from... Don't come here. Like I said, Peterson's is a real live working farm. The pumpkin patch size was on the smaller side, we got fantastic pictures of my daughter sitting around a bunch of pumpkins in, OH MY GOD, the dirt!!! I was totally stoked to come here and am thrilled that my money has gone directly to helping a family farm thrive. My husband and I laughed at a family that showed up dressed, well, for a stroll in the city... The mother all but had high heels on. Clearly, they were really looking for a place where their spawn could jump in bouncy houses and have a Disney-fied experience of a harvest tradition. They never took the kids out of the Armada and split as soon as they realized that they'd be walking in dirt to peruse the pumpkin patch. Peterson's offers educational tours for children on honey farming, and they grow other seasonal delights in addition to pumpkins - tomatoes, persimmons, dried flowers... I can't wait until my daughter is a bit older to bring her back here, perhaps in the spring, so get another gander at the chickens and cows and ponies (OH MY!!!). read more

Having read some really nice reviews on the web, and being a connoisseur of pumpkin patches, I made a trip out to this farm. I'm not really sure if things are just maybe different this year, if I've been to too many really nice patches, or the place just doesn't live up to the hype. It clearly blows away any patch you might find on a street corner in San Francisco, but it doesn't actually come close to some of the really lovely patches we have in the Bay Area. I would really like to give this place four stars; the prices are good, the atmosphere is lovely, it's very cool that it's on a working farm, and the adorable lady running it gave us a tour of her working bee hive. However, as far as pumpkins go, it was pretty sparse, and many of the ones that were left had some rot going on. We went in early October, so I can't imagine that everything was picked over and the weather has been nice... I just don't know. I'm not a city slicker with heels, and I understand that they aren't even advertising their pumpkins, but if anyone is planning to make a trip out to this little remote patch, I would just like to put some of the hyperbole in check. The place is fine, but if you want a good selection of pumpkins, you should go elsewhere. read more

Peterson's is as good as it gets! We get our pumpkins from them every year. I have to agree with the reviewer from 2009 who commented on the relative lack of quality pumpkins--they did seem to have an off year last year, but there are no such problems this season. We bought three beautiful humongonormous pumpkins, all for what one of them would have cost at any of the competing pumpkin patches in the Bay Area. It's a great farm experience, too. No annoying jumpy houses or corn mazes and stuff, just pumpkins, dirt, animals, bees, and fresh air. read more

PUMPKIN FARM CLOSED 2014...from their website: Peterson's Farm We are no longer a pumpkin farm! Peterson's Farm is now concentrating on beekeeping, raising a variety of chickens for eggs and giving school tours to educate children about small family farms, honey bees and earth worms.. read more

It just couldn't get better than this - and we checked out 2 other patches in Petaluma/Marin as well. Peterson's was friendly, authentic, fun and interesting. We dug our own potatoes, pulled our pumpkin off the vine (at Nicasio in Marin, they just had a bunch of pumpkins in a field that they placed there), ate their home made cheese and ice cream (made from their own dairy cows), milked a cow, got a great free hayride, and listened to bluegrass. Was a great day - our 3 year old didn't want to leave. Would go back in a heartbeat - and couldn't see pumpkin patch experiences getting better than this. read more

This was just what I wanted in a pumpkin-picking experience! My 5 year old and 3 year old had a great time. There were two ponies and two cows that you can feed. Also, bunnies and chickens and roosters to see too. The pumpkins are in a big field that you can walk through to find pumpkins. There weren't a ton of pumpkins, but we did find one big one and several smaller sized ones. The pumpkins are sold based on girth, not weight - cash only. No jumpy houses, corn mazes or tracter rides. Just a working farm with some animals and pumpkins and bee hives. Sometimes, you can buy fresh eggs, but there weren't any there the day we visited. read more

Peterson's Farm - Bee hives - Fruits & Veggies Near Me - Petaluma, California

My kids had an awesome time here. The owner was super amazing and sooooooo sweeeeeeeeeet! The kids were able to feed a cow. The older lady which I believed was the owner was amazing. She first took the kids to a small barn and showed them her bee hives. The kids were so fascinated with everything in that barn. They were able to see the queen bee and her workers. Then after that they went outside n saw the rabbits, horses, chickens and chicks. Then lastly the kids picked out their adorable pumpkins that are grown on that farm and not shipped in like some pumpkin patches. They also have picnic benches if you want to have lunch there. What a great experiences for the kids...We had so much fun. read more

The hours are misleading, some sites say they are open every day and while the peterson site says, "Week Ends 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. ", it also says, "School tours are usually gone by 2 p.m. so if you are just dropping in on a school day, it is best to come after that." So we drove all the way up there on a school day after 2PM and there was no one around. The message on their phone had no information regarding their hours either. There was even a sign on the barn that said "open". Frustrating to say the least! read more

I will agree this is a great great pumpkin patch! My son had a real blast. Then I was talking with some friends and did some research. They stated the farmer was "written-up" in the local paper for owing a bunch of city fees....and it was true (alot of $$$$). I'm not sure how I feel about this but I think people should know. read more

it was great. no jumpy houses just dirt, pumpkins, horses, cows, and chickens. the pumpkins are very reasonably priced, we got a huge cinderella pumpkin for 7 dollars, it would have cost over 20 dollars in a store. it's hard to see cows destined for slaughter if one is (like me) vegetarian. i wasn't crazy about the two farm dogs chained up under the store and barking like crazy. i love dogs and i felt bad for them. i can't imagine they get a tremendous amount of freedom seeing as how the farm is pretty open and like most farms pretty dilapidated and there are plenty of exit points. also, mrs. peterson told me that kids get scared of the dogs. well kids are there most of the time so i just wonder when they get out. aside from those animal issues, my boys loved it, and they didn't miss those ridiculous jumpies. read more