I had no idea pick your own pumpkin farms existed outside of America. They seem to go crazy for Halloween over there, but it’s not as big a deal over here. I love the tradition of carving pumpkins and we’ve done one every year since Ebony was born. Now we buy two so that we can have one each (because, even though I am 30, I am rubbish at sharing). We don’t go trick or treating or do much else in the way of Halloween celebrations, so carving the pumpkin is as exciting as things get in our house.
This year I stumbled across a place called Kenyon Hall Farm in Warrington. It’s a pick your own fruit place near us and I always plan to go strawberry picking but miss it every single year. I found out they also offer pumpkin picking so we decided to go along. Now that Ebony is in school full time and Laurie is back in work, I’ve been trying to think of fun outings for us each weekend so we’re making the most of our limited time as a family.
It took us about half an hour to get to the farm and Ebony was excited when she found out we’d be buying pumpkins that day. There’s a farm shop on site filled with some beautiful vegetables which we didn’t get to buy. Next time we go, I’m definitely going to do my weekly shop there because it all looked amazing.
You don’t have to pick your own pumpkin, there is a big selection of pre-picked pumpkins to choose from if you prefer. Kenyon Hall Farm put on a pumpkin festival each year so it feels like more of a family day out than a simple trip to buy a pumpkin. Ebony had her face painted before we headed out onto the field. The pumpkin patch was huge and there were loads of pumpkins to choose from. Ebony went for the biggest one she could find and I chose a more modest sized pumpkin. It was fun wandering around the field and trying to find the best pumpkins and we spent quite a long time choosing.
Once we’d found the best ones, we stuck them in the cart and Ebony pushed them back to the shop with Laurie’s help. It’s more expensive than buying a pumpkin from Aldi but it was definitely worth the extra money. My little pumpkin cost £2 and Ebony’s pumpkin was £8 and bigger than her head. There was a playground (complete with tractor) so Ebony played there for a bit and then headed back inside for story time before we went home.
We were there for a couple of hours in total and it was a lovely way to spend half the day. It was busy but not as busy as I expected, but this may have been because we got there in the morning. Ebony really enjoyed choosing her own pumpkin and seeing how they grew. I think this is going to become an annual tradition for us because we all really enjoyed it and it was a nice way of spending time together as a family.
The Kenyon Hall Farm Pumpkin Festival runs from the 15th to the 31st October. It’s free entry but there are charges for some of the activities. Pumpkin prices vary from £1 to £10 depending on size. You can find out more on their website.