Sunday is the Autumnal Equinox, the time of the year when the sun moves across the equator from the northern sky to the southern, and when the minutes in the day and night are approximately equal. While the first day of autumn isn’t until Sunday, the unofficial start of the season begins in Marion County Saturday/today with the opening of Pierce’s Pumpkin Patch near Columbia. The Pumpkin Patch is one of the more popular agritourism destinations in Iowa, featuring dozens of varieties of pumpkins, squash and gourds.