This week we took our annual trip to the pumpkin patch. There are several in our area but our favorite is a family owned farm. When you arrive you hop on a hay wagon pulled by a tractor. They ask what size of pumpkins you are looking for, my son wanted a big one, then take you to the right area. We walked through the fields in and around vines. My son was quite picky. This one wasn’t round enough. That one wasn’t orange enough. Then he found the perfect one. Round, orange, big enough to be cool, and small enough that I would be willing to carve it. So dad hoisted it on his shoulder and we tromped through the fields looking for some “baby” pumpkins for our girls. As we were looking my son found a new perfect pumpkin and exchanged his. We finally found the baby pumpkins in a separate field. My girls each picked their own pumpkin and carried it to the checkout line. Their pumpkins were twenty-five cents each since they were so small. My son’s pumpkin ended up weighing almost 33 pounds. The best thing was it only cost $4.00.
While we were waiting for Dad to buy the pumpkins my kids amused themselves by walking through a maze made out of haystacks, piled two high. The haystacks were short enough that I could see my kids but tall enough to be fun. The farm also offered a full size corn maze, rides in a cow barrel train, a concession stand, and inflated jumping area all for an extra fee of course.
Our yearly pumpkin-picking excursion is something that our children look forward too. After all it’s a lot more fun to pick your pumpkin out of a field than a box at the grocery store.
Here are some tips to make your pumpkin patch experience a memorable one.
1. Dress for the event. Fall can be cool so make sure that you bring along a jacket. We saw some families wearing short sleeves that looked like they were freezing. For pumpkin hunting you should always wear tennis shoes instead of sandals. Also have your children wear long pants because pumpkin vines are scratchy.
2. Take pictures. Make sure you take your camera, camcorder, or both. A pumpkin patch is a great place to snap some precious photos of your kids. Unfortunately the batteries in my camera died so I didn’t get any pictures this year.
3. Choose a good time. Don’t go on a day when it is raining or has just rained the day before and is still cloudy. We went on a clear day with blue skies. Go earlier in the season before the fields have been too picked over. Our friends waited until just before Halloween and were disappointed with the pumpkin choice.
4. Find the best farm. Different pumpkin farms charge different amounts. The first farm we looked at charged so much per pound like the grocery stores. The size of pumpkin that my son wanted would have cost us about $20. Our favorite farm charges $2 for anything between 5 and 20 lbs and $4 for anything over 20 lbs.
Happy pumpkin hunting!