COEUR d’ALENE — The heart cannot help but feel a jolt of nostalgia and happiness when children joyfully wander by while carting Halloween-orange pumpkins in red Radio Flyers.

It's a common sight at the Prairie Home Farm Pumpkin Patch and Produce Stand, which is now open for its 11th October.

“I love this day,” farm owner Linda Swenson said on Saturday, her sunny yellow sweater matching her cheerful demeanor.

It was a busy day at the 5-acre, vintage-style farm, where pumpkin-toting tots accompanied their grown-up counterparts as they chatted with Swenson about her fresh pies and produce, discovered the whimsical and antique farm décor or spent some time with the horses, geese, rabbits, chickens, pigs and goats.

“I Googled ‘pumpkin patches’ and I just found it online and it looked great,” said Amethyst Moore of Post Falls. Moore brought her young kids and niece and nephew to Prairie Home for a fun fall family outing.

“It’s really family-oriented," she said. “I just love that they have a whole bunch of different things to do for a good price, and I like the interaction, that they physically go out and pick the pumpkins and then go pet the animals along the way, and the little tire swing. It’s just a really cute place. It’s small and not overwhelming, you’re not bumping into a million people.”

Linda and her husband, David, welcome the public to their happy homestead at 7790 N. Atlas Road two days a week in October.

They host birthday parties and field trips as well as special events. Linda said on any given Saturday, as many as 2,000 people will come to visit the farm.

This year, a woman who actually used to live on the property, Judy Brook, will sign copies of her book, “Molly's Memories,” from 10 a.m. to noon on Saturday. The book shares some of her experiences living on the farm, including watching a runt piglet named Molly grow up.

The Spokane Story Telling League will make a special appearance at 2 p.m. Oct. 24 to tell stories in the barn.

“They don’t read stories, they tell stories," Linda said. “They’re kid-based, they’re farm-based, they’re Halloween-based, but they’re not scary.”

Amanda Grenon, 17, of Coeur d'Alene, has worked at the farm for six seasons. She helps with weighing pumpkins, checking people in, caring for the animals and helps the super-busy Linda with whatever else needs doing.

    “I love it here,” Amanda said. “I love all the little kids and just seeing how happy everybody is. I love autumn, the pumpkins and all that good stuff. It’s just my favorite.”

Prairie Home Farm is open 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Wednesdays and Saturdays. Admission is $2 per person. Pick fresh pumpkins right off the vine for $.30 a pound. Bags of treats to hand-feed the animals are $4.50 each. Field trip admission is $6 per person. Late-summer and fall produce, including a wide variety of pumpkins and squash, are available for various prices. And new this year are Linda’s homemade pies, made with love.

For information, call 762-3289 or visit www.prairiehomefarm.com.