The Pumpkin Patch at Sauvie Island

Last weekend, Erlend and I headed to nearby Sauvie Island to partake in a typical Portland fall tradition: getting lost in the Portland Corn Maze at the Pumpkin Patch!

This was my first time at a corn maze and it did not disappoint. The maze stretched for what seemed like miles and miles of corn. Since I'm a pretty short person (standing tall at 5 foot 3 inches, representin'!), the rows of corn loomed over me and at times, felt like it was closing me in:

Towards the end of our maze exploration, Erlend and I took some frustrating turns that kept us going around in circles. Fortunately, there were "CORNUNDRUM" riddles (see picture above) to keep me entertained (because I really like portmanteaus, apparently) and some trivia signs to provide clues along the way. Regardless, I was very pleased to see this sign after about a half hour of looping around in circles: 

Because really, despite the excitement of the corn maze, I was really more interested in the attached farmer's market that I'd spotted when we first arrived:

The Pumpkin Patch Market was filled with a plenty of fall squash vegetables, with more varieties of pumpkins and gourds than I'd ever seen before:

Although I'm absolutely charmed by miniature pumpkins (I can't believe they are called pump-ke-mon. Like Pokemon, you know? Hw adorable is that?) and warty-looking decorative gourds, I was more excited by the white, pastel blue and pink pumpkins that the store offered. I'd never seen anything like that before! 

Erlend, on the other hand, was super excited about this warty pumpkin:

Apparently, this type of pumpkin is so sweet that sugar actually leaves the pumpkin shell to crate those little warts. Yep, those bumps? Pure sugar. How crazy is that?

In the end, Erlend and I restrained ourselves (despite wanting to buy almost every single pumpkin variety we saw) and left with a pastel blue pumpkin and some miniature ornamental corn:

Learn more:

• Sauvie Island is one of the largest river islands in the US, and is about 10 miles northwest from downtown Portland. The island is home to two beaches (one of them nude, if you're into that, lol) and a large number of independent farmers who grow a fair percentage of Portland's local produce. Learn more about visiting Sauvie Island on their webpage.


• The Portland Corn Maze is run by The Pumpkin Patch farm on Sauvie Island. In addition to the two corn mazes (yep, there's two — one regular and one haunted), the Pumpkin Patch offers hay rides, cow trains, an animal barn and of course, the Pumpkin Patch Market. In the summer and spring, you can also pick your own produce.