This family affair—now in its fifth generation—is one of the county’s legacy farms on the ever-green Saint Charles Mesa. But this time of year, the workload seems to double, maybe even more.
It is fall, which means pumpkin season. This orange fruit (yes, it’s a fruit) and symbol of the season keeps the entire DiSanti family and its hired help busy from dawn to dusk harvesting, loading and shipping its signature fruit all across the state and to certain parts of the country. Of course, pumpkins are just a single slice of the DeSanti harvest.
Basically, if it comes off a stalk or gets pulled from a vine, the DeSantis grow it. And sell it. Their pumpkins, chile peppers, onions or any of the more than 25 different vegetables they grow can be found right on the property’s food stand or in a local Safeway, King Soopers and Walmart around the state and beyond.
Family matriarch RoseAnn DiSanti married into the family. “I was a city girl. I knew nothing about farming, but I fell in love with it.” It was her late husband, Jim, is the one who could answer any question about the farm, what it grew or how it was grown.
Today, three of her sons and a daughter run the farm. “My boys are the farmers,” she said. One son, however, found his calling in New York. “He had another direction in his life.” The women in the family do their share, too. But, DiSanti says, they’ll get their hands dirty when called for.
It would be hard to say pumpkins are the DiSanti’s bell cow. But it would be hard not to say it, too. Not only does this vine fruit take up a lot of acreage, but the DiSantis have contracted with others nearby to grow what they don’t have room for. “I can’t grow enough all by myself,” she said. “I have another grower.”
So good is this year’s crop, DiSanti says that “you can’t take a step without stepping on a pumpkin.” And when traversing the crop, you’ll also be side-stepping a bunch of different types. “We grow warty pumpkins,” the kind that look a bit spooky and covered in bumps. “We do fairy tale pumpkins…we do a Frankenstein pumpkin,” also. A Frankenstein pumpkin, DiSanti explains, is exactly what you’d think.
“We put a mold on it,” she explained. The mold, basically a Frankenstein mask, as the pumpkin grows, takes the shape of the monster and when fully grown and ready for market, well, it has the ‘curse of Frankenstein.’ Well, his face, anyway.
There are a lot of things that make the DiSanti operation worth a visit, especially for young children. Schools regularly schedule field trips to the farm where they are invited to pick their own pumpkin and take it home. It’s also free. “They’re amazed,” she said of the children’s reaction. After scanning all the pumpkins, the big ones, small ones and the ‘warties,’ DiSanti chuckles, “They usually pick the ugliest ones.”
While seeing young children wander the sea of orange is always a treat, said DiSanti, it’s also nice to see entire families come by. For one thing, she said, “I think it gives a family something to do together. It makes memories, brings them back to nature and helps teach their children where crops come from.” Visitors, especially those for whom the whole ‘farm experience’ is conducted in a grocery store produce section are amazed what they see when they come.
Of course, while pumpkins may be the obvious draw, especially this time of year, DiSanti says they’re not the only reason to make a visit to the 29114 South Road farm.
“We have a farm stand,” DiSanti is quick to remind. There, visitors can buy any of the 25 or so fresh vegetables that have only recently been harvested. And there, you can also pick up the fruit that Pueblo agriculture puts on the map, the Pueblo chile. Prices have gone up this year. Expect to pay an extra five dollars for a bushel. Roasting, however, is free.
DiSanti Farms is open from eight a.m. to five p.m. seven days a week.
