Lemont residents looking to get in the Halloween spirit need only to find their way to 131st Street and Bell Road.
Puckerville Farms, which has been growing and selling pumpkins for 20 years, offers a number of fall products, as well as hayrides and bonfires.
Unlike many pumpkin farms in the area, which have slowly morphed into amusement parks, Puckerville has remained true to its roots as a family farm. Owner Rick Homerding grows a wide variety of gourds and unique varieties of pumpkins on the five acres of property he leases behind his home.
The property has been in Homerding’s family since 1875, when his ancestors grew corn and wheat on the 100 acres they owned. A small part of that original property has remained in the family ever since, but was not used to grow pumpkins until Homerding’s father came up with the idea in 1991.