It used to be that a few pumpkins on your porch was enough to decorate for fall. Then again, you probably never met Sable Dees.
Dees, who lives in a ranch-style home in northwest Fresno, enjoys decorating for the seasons, so much so she hired a company, The Porch Co., to turn her front porch into a pumpkin palooza.
More than 200 pumpkins, ranging in size from 100-pound behemoths to palm-sized speckled heirloom varieties, spill out from the front door down the walkway.
Dees is among many homeowners who are part of the growing trend of hiring professional porch-styling services that will deliver your pumpkins, design your display and handle disposing of them afterward.
Along with The Porch Co. other pumpkin providers are Sweet Thistle Farms and Mendonca Pumpkin Co.
Each has seen steady growth since they began operating a year or two ago and many attribute social media for spreading the word.
Emery and Madison Garcia of The Porch Co. source their pumpkins from a nearby farmer who provides them with at least a dozen different varieties including the jumbo-sized pumpkins that weigh about 100 pounds.
This is the couple’s second year in business, having started out with about 35 customers. This year, they expect at least 100 customers.
Emery credits his wife’s designing skills for the growth in their business. To prepare, she requests the customer send her a photo of their porch so she has an idea of the space and what pumpkins might look best.
“I know people are busy, and they want a nice looking porch for the holidays,” Madison Garcia said. “We can help them with that.”
Erick Mendonca, of Mendonca Pumpkin Co., has been in business for two years. Last year he had about 150 customers and this year he expects to provide pumpkins to nearly 250 homes, mainly in Fresno and Tulare counties.
Mendonca grows his own pumpkins on 5 acres in Tulare. He has been pleasantly surprised at the public’s response, especially on social media.
His Tiktok has more than 53,000 followers and his Instagram has 17,000.
“When we started posting on social media my inbox started blowing up,” Mendonca said.
Along with pumpkins Mendonca can supply hay bales, mums, and corn stalks. His girlfriend Alyssa Valdez helps him with the designs.
Sarah Shoffner, of Sweet Thistle Farms, also grows her own pumpkins along with operating a pumpkin patch that is open on the weekends in October.
Shoffner said she provides customers an option of delivering the pumpkins and letting them decorate, or she can do it for them. They can also come to her farm in Clovis to pick up their pumpkins.
Pumpkin packages in the greater Fresno area range from $150 to $1,400, depending on the amount of pumpkins you want. Some companies can provide additional items including hay bales, flowers, plants and corn stalks.
Dees, whose family farms pistachios and operates an irrigation business, likes to do it up big, except this year she almost didn’t do anything.
Dees’s 20-year-old stepson, Nicholas Dees, died tragically last December and she was still mourning his loss. She had little desire to decorate.
“I just didn’t have it in me,” Dees said. “I usually go over the top with every holiday but not this year.”
That changed a few weeks ago. Dees was scrolling through Instagram and came across the page of The Porch Co.
She liked their designs and the convenience of having them do all the work. She called the owners, Emery and Madison Garcia, and decided to hire them.
Dees got two of the Garcia’s “grand” packages. Each grand package is $1,400.
Dees was thrilled with the results in more ways than one.
She told the Garcia’s they gave her more than just a pumpkin display they brought back some happiness.
“I was at the point where I didn’t think I would be interested in doing something like this anymore,” Dees said. “But they brought that back, they brought back something that was important to me.”
The Fresno Bee
A Valley native, Robert has worked at The Fresno Bee since 1994, covering various topics including education, business, courts and agriculture.