Wheelbarrow Deals Are Rolling at Tanaka Farms, Pumpkin People

October may rule the whimsical and wickedly wonderful world of jack o'lantern joy, it is true, but come November?

That's when we like to see our pumpkins exactly as they came off the vine, smooth and bumpy and ridge-y and bright, no carved faces required.

And yet?

Many stores are nearly pumpkin-less as November begins, due to the Halloween rush, making our desire to fill the eleventh month with all sorts of gorgeous gourds an unfulfilled one.

So we turn our autumn-obsessed gazes to our local growers, where pumpkins are still very much a part of the scene, though not for too much longer.

Tanaka Farms, one of Orange County's best-known places to pick up a pumpkin in September and October, still has a bounty, including a whole line-up of lovely heirlooms.

And to move these pretty 'kins along, all to make way for holiday happenings around the Irvine destination? There is a new special afoot, one that will require some fun but challenging arranging.

What do we mean by "challenging arranging"?

You're invited to pile pumpkins in a wheelbarrow, as many as you can, and the price for the whole caboodle is as tempting as a pumpkin is round: It's $20.

That's some savings, and if you can fit enough fab fruit into your wheelbarrow, you'll have a packed porch of pumpkinry to greet your Thanksgiving guests.

Tanaka Farms is open through Nov. 4, and the wheelbarrow deal is definitely a "while supplies last" kind of thing.

And if you wanted to carve one, just because? Well, no one says you can't. And with a wheelbarrow full of pumpkins, you'll have plenty of choices when picking the most carvable one.