Autumn Harvest was started very innocently by two brothers, Dylan and Darren Wells whose desire was to grow their own pumpkins in the family garden. Being only 6 and 9 years old, they were quite surprised to find that they had overplanted and had more pumpkins than they needed for their own carving purposes. They decided to use one of the farm pickups to hold the overflow, parked it alongside the road by their house and offered them for sale. Using the tin can – on your honor method – they were surprised to find money left in the can and pumpkins slowly disappearing. Mom quietly put the money away for them. The following season they were excited to do it all again but this time displayed the pumpkins in the driveway and found pleasure in racing out of the house to help their customers pick out their pumpkins. The boys used the first two season’s profits to take their first trip to Disneyland.

Dad being the typical farmer, thought that there was something promising about this pumpkin thing and began to research the market. He found that there was a need for the smaller ornamental pumpkins and gourds for the local floral and grocery chains. Autumn Harvest expanded into the ornamental market and it was off and running.

The two brothers helped plant seed, hoed weeds, moved irrigation pipe and helped all summer long. Unfortunately, harvest started about the same time as school, so they would work after school to help sort, pack or make boxes when they could. All the while, the brothers held ownership of the business with their parents working behind the scenes handling business opportunities for them.

An inspiration of two young boys, Autumn Harvest has grown to be the largest mini pumpkin and gourd grower in Oregon. It has shipped product internationally to Mexico and Japan. It also supplies major grocery store chains in Oregon, Washington & Alaska.