Come October, our world is suddenly beautified and our palates delightfully sated. The pumpkin, fruit of the month, has arrived. From the field in which it grows, to the doorstep where it becomes a part of Halloween, to the dinner table at Thanksgiving, this member of the gourd family is a meaningful and major product grown in the United States. 

Of the 67,000 acres across this land growing pumpkins, there is a small garden plot in the Moon area of Mathews where a first-time home farmer, Robin Dehoux, produced more than 20 white and orange pumpkins. There were small, medium and large sizes, and one of them grew so large that Robin could not lift it. “I’ve named it ‘Big Bertha’ and she’s not going to be used for cooking. I will just keep her as long as we can as a friend.”

Robin’s garden site has a history of its own. “It was my father’s garden for years where he always had vegetables,” she said. “Then it became...