COSTA MESA, Calif. — For fourth generation farmer Kenny Tanaka, growing fruits and vegetables is a family business.

His family’s company, Tanaka Farms, has been farming across Orange County since the 1940s.

“My dad’s still around, my mom still helps with the bookkeeping a little bit,” said Tanaka. “I’m here full time, and hopefully my kids will be in it when they get a little bit older.”

As families and small business battle with rising costs, Tanaka Farms is feeling the effects of inflation.

Tanaka says everything is just more expensive this year.

“Labor has gone up, water has gone up, all the materials that go into it have gone up significantly,” Tanaka said.

Inevitably, that means the prices of their products are up, too.

At the Tanaka Farms Hana Field Pumpkin Patch, which opened last weekend, pumpkin prices are up 15% this year. That means that a 15-pound pumpkin now costs close to $20.

The rise in prices doesn’t seem to be affecting business, though.

Lynette Bravo, a self proclaimed fall-fanatic, takes her daughter Olivia to the pumpkin patch every year. She says it’s more about the memories than just buying pumpkins.

“It’s more about the experience and the quality time that we spend together,” said Lynette.

Tanaka Farms worked hard to make the pumpkin patch a fun fall environment worth the price of admission and rising cost of pumpkins.

“We have the corn maze included in the price of admission here, all the photo ops and scarecrows that we have,” Tanaka said.

The company is also bringing out food trucks to the pumpkin patch.

Tanaka says it’s all about creating an atmosphere to get people into the fall spirit.

It’s all part of an effort to keep this local small business thriving amid a difficult time.