Halloween and Thanksgiving have come and gone, but I'm still mad about pumpkins

December 18, 2009 9:22 PM

Where can I find pumpkin for cooking in (or near) Alameda, CA?

I am visiting my friend, and I really want to make a recipe that requires a pumpkin -- canned pumpkin will not do. We've tried Safeway and (on a lark) Trader Joe's. However, my friend had just moved to the area, and she's never cooked with pumpkin before, so she has no idea where we could get one.

Any ideas? I'm willing to entertain suggestions anywhere in the Bay Area.

I already know what I'll use as a substitute, in case you wonder Mefites can't help me out... I'm just really hoping I can find an actual pumpkin.

posted by Ms. Saint to Shopping (9 answers total)

Best answer: Berkeley Bowl or Farmer Joe's. Phone first, but they both have extensive produce sections.
posted by otherwordlyglow at 9:32 PM on December 18, 2009 [1 favorite]

Monterey Market in Berkeley has good sweet pumpkins. Very tasty.
posted by zippy at 11:29 PM on December 18, 2009

Personally I find Berkeley Bowl about 1000 times more awesome than Whole Foods, but if for whatever reason Berkeley Bowl is not possible, I would try Whole Foods. The Noe Valley (San Francisco) Whole Foods has lots of pie pumpkins right now, and I would wager that other locations in the Bay area have a similar selection.
posted by needs more cowbell at 11:30 PM on December 18, 2009

If you insist on really fresh pumpkin, you can get them from any number of farms on Highway 1 just north of Half Moon Bay.
posted by Multicellular Exothermic at 8:19 AM on December 19, 2009

Mod note: A few comments removed. Question is pretty explicit about (a) wanting leads on finding actual pumpkins and (b) not needing substitution suggestions. It's okay to just not answer.
posted by cortex (staff) at 9:26 AM on December 19, 2009

Best answer: Farmer Joes in Fruitvale (On Fruitvale, near MacArthur) would probably be your closest, best option. There's also a health food store in Alameda - call first to confirm pumpkinage?
posted by serazin at 1:43 PM on December 19, 2009

Whole Foods in Oakland has a bunch of cooking pumpkins at the moment. Probably the quickest place to go from Alameda.
posted by oneirodynia at 2:09 PM on December 19, 2009

Oh yeah, Farmer's Joe's is probably closer if you're not on the tube end of Alameda, but I couldn't say for sure if they have pumpkins.
posted by oneirodynia at 2:11 PM on December 19, 2009

Response by poster: Thanks, folks!

Not the most fascinating question in Metafilter history, no, but it helped me out in a pinch!
posted by Ms. Saint at 5:44 PM on December 20, 2009