Orange You Glad It's Halloween?

Not all pumpkins are created equally.

Gold rush pumpkins are short and squat. Wolf pumpkins can grow a foot tall, with stems that exceed three inches. Big Moose have been known, fittingly enough, to weigh in at more than 125 pounds.

These very different pumpkins have at least two things in common, though.

They grow at Houlden Farm. And they will appeal to someone.

“There’s a pumpkin for everyone,’’ said Ruth Houlden, co-owner of the farm. “A pumpkin to you might not be a pumpkin to someone else.’’

Thousands of pumpkins in more than 20 varieties grow at the farm, a popular spot for Halloween decorations. Choices range from palm-sized pumpkins perfect for pre-schoolers to hundred-pounders that many of the male customers seem to prefer.

The farm will celebrate 50 years in business this December. They have been growing pumpkins for at least 20 years, Houlden said.

This year was a tough one for pumpkins because of the excessively wet conditions, she said.

Still, she estimates they harvested thousands of pumpkins.

Pumpkins were originally grown for food, and some people do still cook with them. But not everyone does, she admits with a laugh.

“I’ll say, you can cook with them and you’ll see this big smile on their face,’’ she said.

A few generations ago, decorating with pumpkins would have been considered wasteful, she said.

But in the last 50 years, decorating and carving have been Halloween traditions.

And that makes her happy.

“I love all the fall things,’’ she said, pointing to a display of pumpkins and gourds. “You can have such a variety. I like to have such variety.’’