Pumpkin season on Long Island stopped being a countdown this weekend. Stakey's in Aquebogue ran its first hayrides of the year on Saturday, Hank's PumpkinTown in Water Mill switched from preview weekends to seven days a week, and White Post Farms in Melville opened its fall festival for the 36th year. With the calendar flipping to fall this week, here is who is picking, when they actually pick, and what it costs, checked against each farm's own pages and posts this weekend.

One planning note before the list. Fink's in Wading River runs its festival this Monday, September 21, one of only two weekdays on its calendar all season, timed to a day many districts take off. The East End farms pick on weekdays as a matter of course. The festival farms further west mostly wait for the weekend.

Stakey's Pumpkin Farm, Aquebogue: the pure pumpkin patch, 79 cents a pound

Stakey's at 270 West Lane opened for the season on Saturday, September 19, and it stays the simplest deal on this list: no gate admission, pumpkins at 79 cents a pound, hayrides at 8 dollars and the corn maze at 10. Weekdays run noon to 5 with picking, the hayride and the maze; weekends run 9 to 5 and add the roasted corn, the snack shack and face painting. The season ends on Halloween. The farm closes when it rains, so on a gray day call before making the drive.

Hank's PumpkinTown, Water Mill: the South Fork's everything farm, now open daily

Hank's at 240 Montauk Highway warmed up with two preview weekends and went to a daily schedule on September 19, running through November 1. Weekdays open at 10, weekends at 9:30, and the daily lineup covers pumpkin picking, the farm market and the maze park. Weekends add the reasons people cross the bays for this place: apple picking, the hard cider shed, roasted corn and the barrel train. If the Hamptons traffic is going to happen to you anyway, this is the farm that rewards it.

Harbes, Mattituck to Riverhead: pumpkins by the pound and a corn maze for America's 250th

The Harbes operation spreads across Sound Avenue, and its fall season is already fully awake. The orchard is open daily through November 1, the Jamesport farm runs weekends and holidays 9 to 6 with sunflower fields and a corn maze cut for America's 250th birthday, and pumpkin picking is priced by the pound. One caution that this weekend proved: Harbes posts same-day weather closures on its site, and Jamesport sat out Sunday for rain. Check the banner at the top of their page before loading the car.

Fink's Country Farm, Wading River: the one open this Monday

Fink's runs its fall festival on weekends only, with exactly two weekday exceptions: Monday, September 21 and Columbus Day, October 12. Gates open at 9:30, the last hayride rolls at 4:30, and admission is 25 dollars for everyone age 3 and up, which covers unlimited hayrides and the corn maze, with discounts for seniors, military, law enforcement and fire. The pumpkins here are still on the vine, which is the difference between picking a pumpkin and picking one up. If your kids are home Monday, this is the farm that planned for it.

Windy Acres, Calverton: open every single day, festival or not

Windy Acres started its fall fest back on September 12 and runs it through November 1, but the farm itself is open daily, 9 to 6, which makes it the reliable Tuesday-afternoon option on this list. The corn maze and activity area run through October, weekends bring live entertainment and the food stands, and the farm stand and bakery are open every day. It is the farm for the family that wants fall without needing a ticketed Saturday to get it.

White Post Farms, Melville: the close one, weekends through October 25

For most of Nassau and western Suffolk, the nearest pumpkin on this list grows at 250 Old Country Road. White Post opened its Fall Farm Festival on September 19, its 36th year running one, and holds it every weekend plus Columbus Day through October 25. Gates open at 9:30, and the day wraps pumpkin picking and painting, singalong hayrides and the animal shows the farm is known for into one admission. It is the shortest drive to a real fall Saturday, and it sells that convenience honestly.

How to pick your farm

The cheapest pure picking trip is Stakey's, where a respectable jack-o-lantern costs less than a sandwich. The biggest single day out is Hank's or Harbes, and both reward going early. The best bets for small kids are White Post and Fink's, which are built around them. And the weekday rule of thumb holds across the Island: east of Riverhead the farms pick every day, west of it the festivals wait for the weekend. Fall is officially here this week. The fields, as of this weekend, are ready for it.