The family-owned and operated patch welcomes visitors for the holidays, starting strong with thousands of pumpkins.
By Olivia Gehm
It’s a bright Sunday afternoon — a menagerie of pumpkins, squashes, and gourds sits comfortably under a canopy of tents, escaping the harsh sun. People of all ages carefully inspect them; some are orange and smooth, others are rough, with warts and the coloring of a deep bruise. Many will go on to be parts of elaborate porch displays, or in front of fireplaces, perhaps covered in burlap or painted polka dots. Others will hang out at the patch for a few more weeks until they’re swiped by an excited fifth grader, ready to carve away. Outside the entrance to the tents, with its poles adorned with cornstalks, sits a vintage, turquoise pickup truck, used as a photo-op for visitors.
While the setup of fall exclusives sounds like something out of the Midwest or Northeast, this pumpkin patch finds its home off of 4th Street in Pinellas County, a mere half hour from Florida’s Gulf Coast beaches.
Gallagher’s Pumpkins and Christmas Trees has been family-owned and operated for the last 30 years and is home to more than just pumpkins. Complete with a petting zoo, an organic goods booth, a coffee and bakery truck, and an inflatable racecourse, the current iteration of the patch has come a long way from its humble beginnings. While 2024 hurricanes Helene and Milton made business as usual very difficult for the Gallaghers, they hit the ground running in 2025 and continue to be a community staple.
David and Ciera Gallagher, the current owners of the patch, took over 11 years ago and have expanded its offerings since the patch’s opening 38 years ago.
“[David] originally had family up in New York that sold Christmas trees,” said Ciera. “They had extra one year, and they called my father-in-law, Dave, and asked him if he’d be interested in bringing some trees down from New York here to Florida, and he said, ‘Why not?’ and so they just gave it a go.”
The patch began solely selling Christmas trees, and the pumpkins were added later on. As for business, the patch has been flourishing since the beginning, in part thanks to the family’s consistent community involvement and links to local police and fire departments.
“It’s kind of cool, because we see a lot of the same customers that have been coming here the whole time,” said Ciera. “And they know [David’s] parents, you know, and they watched him grow up, and now they’re watching our daughter grow up.”
Ciera said that it’s nice to feel like she and her family bring joy to the community, and hearing people express their love for their business on social media has been incredibly fulfilling.
“You’re reading these things, and you’re going ‘Wow,’ like, we actually make an impact on these people’s lives in a different way, like that’s rewarding,” said Ciera. “I give, just like, all the glory to God, because it’s just been — good.”
While 2025 has been a positive year for the Gallaghers so far, last year’s back-to-back hurricanes hit St. Petersburg exceptionally hard, and the patch was no exception.
“I had water up to my chest standing in this patch,” said Ciera. “There was literally thousands of pumpkins floating down 4th street. So we lost everything.”
The Gallaghers attempted to salvage what Hurricane Helene took from them in the 15 days before Hurricane Milton made landfall, which destroyed what little they had left. Since the family finances the patch themselves, reviving it was a challenge.
Reopening for the season this year was an emotional experience. “I looked at everything, and I just started crying because I was like, we did it, we’re here again, we prevailed,” said Ciera.
Community support has been integral for the Gallaghers, as the people who help set up and run the patch have been very understanding of the financial hardship that follows storms like Helene and Milton. But the support isn’t one-sided; when St. Pete shows its love, the Gallaghers embrace the city back.
Despite financial challenges brought on by the storms’ destruction, the patch’s prices will remain the same. David and Ciera want to ensure their guests can afford to come.
While the St. Petersburg community is still feeling the effects of the storms a year later, it’s back to business as usual for the patch, and residents certainly appreciate it.
Florida resident and mother, Becca Lorenzo, said that this will be her third time taking her two-year-old son to Gallagher’s, and that her favorite part is seeing how excited the experience makes him.
“Last year, he just started walking when we went to the pumpkin patch,” Lorenzo said. “So that was really special, letting him pick a baby pumpkin and walk around with it.”
While some, like Lorenzo, have yet to make it to the patch this season, the end of September was filled with visitors, eager to jump into fall.
“We don’t really get a fall. It’s just so hot out,” said Natalie Hess, a St. Petersburg resident. This is why places like Gallagher’s are so important to bringing the season to life in Florida.
Hess appreciates the many fall colors of the patch, and the “random ugly pumpkins.”
Despite all that the community has been through, the Gallaghers continue to be a community staple, drawing in visitors year after year, both local to the area and from out of town.
“I’ll tell you, this is probably my favorite line that people say to us: ‘We know that the holidays are here when the Gallaghers start settin’ up on 4th Street,” said Ciera.
Gallagher’s Pumpkins and Christmas Trees is open from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., seven days a week, and is located at 7401 4th St. North, in St. Petersburg, Florida.
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Photos courtesy of Olivia Gehm