StarPhoto/Larry N. Souders The vegetable most associated with fall is the pumpkin. Sometime in late September the world seems to go pumpkin crazy about anything and everything that has to do with the pumpkin. Keith Hart (pictured) is a part of the family owned Laurels Pumpkin Barn located in West Carter County at 303 Laurels Rd (Hwy 361) about a mile south off of Okolona Rd on the left. Hart is standing behind a table of freshly harvested Blaze Pumpkins. He says that the home to over 60 different varieties of pumpkins, squash, gourds, and Indian corn, all of which are all grown here on their working farm, and notes that every pumpkin that is harvested is throughly washed prior to making their way to being displayed.

StarPhoto/Larry N. Souders Pumpkins line the wall.

StarPhoto/Larry N. Souders When you look around the Laurels Pumpkin Barn you’ll discover many different pumpkin displays. The displays are not only to show off the hundreds and hundreds of pumpkins, but they are setup to make excellent places for photo-ops. Places where you can photograph the little ones, like Isaiah and Sadie Light from Jonesborough are demonstrating, or your entire your entire family.

StarPhoto/Larry N. Souders As the Elms, Oaks and Sycamore might grab the most attention when they start showing their colors, one tree is often over looked in the fall. Dogwoods are known for their blossoms as they bloom around Easter each year, but in the fall they show their colors again and their red berries or fruit start to pop up in their branches.

StarPhoto/Larry N. Souders Look closely around you as fall begins to show its beautiful colors over the next several week all around Carter County.

StarPhoto/Larry N. Souders Tuesday morning at 9:31 AM marked the beginning of fall or the autumnal equinox. With the start of fall marks the beginning of the colors of fall, and around Carter County those colors are just starting to show themselves. Right now you have to look kind of hard to see those changes but they are starting to come and colors are expected peak around the middle of October in our area. You can track the progress of the colors changing here in the Star as photographer Larry Souders travels the county of the next several weeks and presents his yearly Colors of Carter County and you can track the projection of the changes at https://smokymountains.com/fall-foliage-map/