Most years I take D and E to a pumpkin farm to buy pumpkins for Halloween. Usually we go to an event near Stoneleigh but this year for a change we visited a more local farm - Wood Barn near Solihull. We went in the week when it was quieter! I find these events are to be avoided at weekends and school half term!!!
There were loads of different varieties of pumpkins being sold although sadly I couldn't find a "Turk's Turban" which is a shame as I have a good recipe for Turk's Turban soup!
There was also a Christmas shop which we had a brief look at.
Timothy being brave by a wyvern!
There was a pumpkin field where you could pick your own which D and E promptly did! There were also reindeer in an enclosure but you might know I looked in the wrong area although D and E found them!
The Christmas Shop
Wood Farm also sells real Christmas trees. I felt a bit guilty after reading this as we have a plastic tree although to be fair we have used the same one for years and years. I do have a real tree in a pot outside which we used to put in the porch over the Christmas period but it has been repotted into larger tubs that many times that it is now too heavy to lift!
We bought several pumpkins of various sizes - some to carve and some to cook with. I remember one year I grew pumpkins and the two that formed I named Henry and Humphrey - a bad mistake to give them names as I found I just couldn't carve or eat them! D tried to grow some this year without success - slugs and snails decided they were tasty :(
We stopped off a Marks and Sparks on the way home to buy some Halloween sweets and chocolates and some sandwiches - sadly the doughnut stall at the farm was closed and we were hungry! I've decided Friday afternoons are not a good time to go out - the traffic was awful :(
All photos taken by me or D with the Panasonic Lumix FZ330 bridge camera. (I don't particularly rate my photos but if anyone wishes to use one or mine or my son's I would be grateful for an email first - thanks).
Pumpkin Farms are certainly catching on in the UK. I don't know what they are like in America now, which is where I first encountered them as simply vending pumpkins. I seem to think ours have much more to offer by way of additional attractions. I know my friend's pumpkin farm Trefaes Ganol, Moylgrove {Pembrokeshire Pumpkin Farm} offers much in the way of barn activities and trails, and a craft area, as well as peddling pumpkins. I have just been gifted a big bag of pumpkins of many sizes, shapes and colours. It is well worth a look at her web page pembrokeshirepumpkins.co.uk
ReplyDeleteSorry you didn't get your Turk's Turban. Did you substitute with something else?
Thanks so much Debbie. I haven't experienced American Pumpkin Farms but one's over here do seem to have many attractions when you visit them. So pleased you have been given a huge bag of various pumpkins and thanks for the link I will have a look.
ReplyDeleteI will use one of the smaller edible pumpkins that D and E bought to make soup and I've cheated and bought a butternut squash to make the Wizard's Hat pasties for Halloween tea! Sainsbury's used to sell ready prepared pumpkin which saved a lot of time and effort but Morrisons online don't sell it not sure about Tesco!
Looks like a super place with lots of things to enjoy. Know what you mean about half term. We try and avoid places that are going to be crowded, we made the mistake of going to Trentham on Monday morning thinking it would be quieter than the weekend, I did get some lovely photos of pumpkins though before we made a quick exit. I like the sound of pumpkin soup, such a shame you didn't find a Turk's Turban. Have a great Halloween:)
ReplyDeleteThanks so much Rosie. Sorry to hear about Trentham being so busy. and I look forward to seeing photos of your pumpkins. I do like pumpkin soup and really you can use any squash but the Turk'sTurban I once bought did seem to give it a lovely flavour.
DeleteSounds like fun! For eating, your middle pumpkin on top looks like a Potimarron (in French the name is a cross between potiron (pumpkin) and marron (chestnut)) and has a delicious nutty, not too sweet flavour, very good for savoury dishes.
ReplyDeleteI must admit I have never carved a pumpkin but Halloween wasn't a big thing when I last lived in the UK; in fact I was surprised when I first moved to France as we had loads of kids around trick or treating! I then discovered that was just because of the internationalness of living near Geneva. Barely had anybody come round since we moved to other parts of France, and of course during this time, Halloween has become big business in the UK.
Thanks so much Mandy. I have a feeling my son used that top pumpkin for a Pumpkin Chilli which he made recently and it was delicious :)
DeleteI've never carved one either tbh - my husband and now son do it! These days we don't really get trick or treaters and I can't say I am sorry. In the old days you'd be constantly answering the door. I've didn't let my two go trick or treating when they were little tbh - a hangover I think from my father who regarded it as a sort of begging! In the main I just love the folklore attached to Halloween - listened to a super zoom talk on the subject earlier this week.
i do find it odd how Halloween has become a thing over Guy Fawkes.... does anyone eat Pumpkins? other than Soup. I can't think of anything I eat!
ReplyDeleteThanks so much Pete. I think you are right about Halloween becoming a thing but round here it is more about fireworks ad infitum............... especially in the middle of the night :( All summer and autumn :( We used to have a few fireworks when the kids were little and then started to go to a big display but daughter hates fireworks - always has done! She' hide inside when we had a few here and wouldn't come to displays!
DeleteWe do eat a lot of pumpkins or squash - soup, of course, my son made a pumpkin chill the other night and has made pumpkin pie in the past! And tomorrow I'll make Wizard's Hat pasties which have pumpkin in them! But there are two vegetarians here so we probably eat it more than most! :)