In most of the country, picking a pumpkin means a muddy field. In Deerfield Beach on Saturday it means a swimsuit. The city is floating a pumpkin patch in the pool at the Peggy Noland Aquatics Complex on Oct. 10, where kids swim out and choose one straight from the water, and the same afternoon its free Fall Festival fills Pioneer Park with a second pumpkin patch, trunk-or-treat, archery and a biergarten. Between the two, it is the most Deerfield way to start the season.

Morning: the Floating Pumpkin Patch

The Floating Pumpkin Patch runs from 9 a.m. to noon at the aquatics complex at 501 SE 6th Ave., in three 45-minute sessions starting at 9, 10 and 11 a.m. Participants wade in from the pool's beach entry, the gently sloped end that works like a shoreline, swim around the floating patch and pick a pumpkin to take home. Near the entrance there is a do-it-yourself photo station for the pictures every parent will want.

It costs $3 a session, all ages are welcome, and each session is capped at 70 swimmers, with 15 minutes between slots for staff to reset the patch. Registration is required in advance through the city's recreation catalog, so check for open spots before you go. The pool is closed to regular swimming that day to make room for it.

Why it is worth the $3: it is the rare fall tradition that actually suits South Florida. Early October still runs warm, a pool is the best place to be on a Saturday morning, and a pumpkin bobbing in the water is a photograph nobody up north can take.

Evening: the Fall Festival at Pioneer Park

From 4 to 8 p.m., the city's Annual Fall Festival takes over Pioneer Park at 217 NE 5th Ave., and admission is free. The city calls it one of its signature seasonal traditions, and the lineup backs that up: a pumpkin patch for photos where children can pick a pumpkin while supplies last, a trunk-or-treat lane of decorated cars and community tents handing out candy, live entertainment, archery, fall crafts and a kids zone.

The grown-ups are covered too, with a biergarten, an artisan vendor lane and food vendors. If your kids already have a pumpkin from the morning swim, the archery and the trunk-or-treat are the draws here; Halloween is three weeks out, and this is a safe, early run at it.

Getting there

To make parking easier, the city is running a free shuttle continuously from 3:30 to 8:30 p.m. Park at the Braithwaite Center for Active Aging, 325 NW 2nd Ave., or the overflow lot at the corner of Eller Street and NW 2nd Street, the former water plant site, and ride in. Schedules and parking updates are posted at DFB.city/FallFest.

Save the date: the Haunted Arboretum

For families with older kids, the next Deerfield event worth planning for is the Haunted Arboretum on Friday, Oct. 23, from 8 to 10 p.m. at Constitution Park and Arboretum, 2841 W. Hillsboro Blvd., with fog, roaming graveyard creatures and scares along the park paths. Capacity is limited and there are no tickets at the gate. Early tickets are $5 and rise to $10 at noon on the day of the event, so this is one to buy now.

The one-day plan

Swim for a pumpkin in the morning, dry off over lunch, and catch the shuttle to Pioneer Park when the festival opens at 4. That is a full Saturday for $3 a child, and it is about as good a deal on family fun as Broward will offer this month.