I think having a family outing is probably the biggest part of this this year, being able to be together [and] doing something that’s not at home.”

Eric Reeter, owner/operator of Port Townsend’s Wilderbee Farm

In times of turmoil it’s common to seek relief in the classics.

Time-tested, well-known familiarities are cozy sweaters for the soul in a world of harsh headlines. And, seasonally speaking, few things are more firmly enshrined in our collective comfort zone than the return of fall and its most iconic avatar, the pumpkin: reportedly one of the oldest domesticated plants on Earth, having been grown and harvested as early as 7,000 BCE.

According to global source of plant and fungal knowledge Kew Science, pumpkin fragments “have been recovered from archaeological sites in northern Mexico dated from 7,000 to 5,500 BC and southwestern USA from 610 AD. The edible fruits of this species were a part of the squash/beans/maize culture of pre-Columbian America.”

They’ve also become a significant part of the culture at Port Townsend’s Wilderbee Farm, where owners/operators Casey and Eric Reeter count them among their establishment’s most popular seasonal offerings.

“We sell out every year, just about,” Eric said. “So we’re hoping that this year won’t be an exception to that and folks will continue to come and enjoy it.”

The farm’s U-pick pumpkin patch is again open for business (cost per gourd is based on weight) from noon to 5 p.m. Wednesday to Sunday through Halloween.

“Hopefully we’ll have enough,” Reeter said. “This is the most pumpkins we’ve ever grown.

“We’ve been working the soil every year, just improving it little by little,” he explained. “And this year we really saw results from maintaining sustainable agricultural practices and healthy soil-building practices.”

Besides a bumper crop of pumpkins, also up for grabs are pickable flowers (which have continued to thrive unseasonably late, Reeter said) and blueberries, as well as mead, honey, meats, woodcrafts and lavender products available for purchase in the adjacent farm store (visit www.wilderbeefarm.com or call 360-379-2434 to learn more; location is 223 Cook Ave. in Port Townsend).

“Everything we sell pretty much on the farm here, we grow or make here,” Reeter said.

The farm’s walking trails are open, too, offering visitors nearly two miles of scenic nature through which to trek.

“We have a perimeter trail and then some little trails that kind of maze through the forest area,” Reeter said. “

It is, the owner said, a good way for people to get out and about safely, as guests are required to distance as much as possible and wear face coverings. Hand sanitizer is provided, too.

And obviously he’s not wrong about the appeal, because before the year’s spookiest month even began, families were visiting and picking plenty of pumpkins.

In a year when so many traditions were forced to be called off, perhaps such staples as remain are even more important.

“As a nation I think we’re kind of getting a little bit back to our roots and it’s the simpler pleasures, which is what I feel the farm is all about,” Reeter said.

“I think having a family outing is probably the biggest part of this this year, being able to be together [and] doing something that’s not at home.”

The farm, like so many other businesses, was forced to temporarily close earlier this year due to restrictions imposed in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. As comparatively well as they have managed at Wilderbee, Reeter said it has been a rough year and he’s glad to be moving into a new season.

“We took a significant hit closing the meatery,” he said. “We still sell our meats in the farm store, but it’s been challenging.

“Different seasons bring different things,” he added. “We start off with dahlia tubers in the spring. We dig our own dahlia tubers and we sell those; they’re all certified organic. And then we move into the lavender and the cut flowers, then the blueberries. And we finish up with pumpkins.”

Be they bound for pies or porches, set to be painted or carved, the excited voices of young guests dashing about the patch, each looking for their own perfect pumpkin, seem to prove the great gourds make a fine finale to this, a most memorable year.