A Day at the Pumpkin Patch

Today, we visited a local Pumpkin farm with the pre-school. I was excited because I’ve never visited a Pumpkin farm before. Back in the UK Pumpkin farms are hard to come by. There are some but as the summers are not predictable I’m sure it’s not very stable business for farmers. Here in Portland, however the situation is very different. With the longer summer temperatures and sunshine (although I’ve been assured this is usually sunny for October) Pumpkins do very well here.

The children were here to harvest the Pumpkins sown by the previous class in May. It was a sweet idea – that a child who was a year older than you left you a ‘present’ in the ground and it grew to become a Pumpkin. We soon located the one for us and Jackson held on to it tightly.

The number of different varieties that were grown here was impressive. This knobbly variety is actually called, Red Warty Thing, which is a brilliant name for what can only be described as a red warty thing.

Other varieties included New Moon, Jack Be Little, Swan Neck Gourds, Baby Boo, Apple Gourd and Bat Wing Pumpkins.

This one is called Lil Pump Ke Mon.

The farmers even decorated the hay wagon with corn and dried flowers. It was all lovely.

And best of all it’s made me very excited to grow Pumpkins next year. I’m already thinking about which seed varieties I’ll be buying and where to plant them.

Category: Holidays, Kids, Vegetables     Tagged: ,

12 Comments on “A Day at the Pumpkin Patch”

  1. All year round I look at orange and think – no, not my colour. But in autumn, the beautiful pumpkins of all shapes and sizes, change my mind ( only for October!!). Sarah

  2. Pumpkins really are emblematic of this time of year and what a lovely idea planting them for someone else to harvest next year.

  4. I popped over from Rhonda at Down to Earth. You have a lovely blog. I’m so glad to meet you. Welcome to America. I can’t wait to see what you do with the blank slate in your new garden.

  5. Pumpkin only recipe books can be found in many charity shops. However from my experience, have a barbecue, once finished place a pumpkin on to heat overnight. Then in the morning scoop out all the pumpkin and make scones, bread and even a pumpkin curry/chutney. I really like the blog, but growing pumpkins in your own small veggie patch can be a little tricky.

  6. What wonderful fun pumpkins are!
    The edible kind and the decorative kind.
    Have a great day!
    Lea
    Lea’s Menagerie

  7. I too found a shortcut on Down to Earth. Welcome, I live about 10 miles from you. Another excellent source for seeds is Nichols Garden Nursery right here in Oregon, also family owned. When your ready to greenhouse shop, try Rain and Shine on Airport Way in Portland. That’s where I bought mine.

  8. Used to love growing pumkins as a kid. Once got in the local paper for growing a really big pumkin in the drought of 1976 of all things to be famous for.

  9. Great Blog and Welcome to Portland. Pumpkins are easy to grow here. I live in near-by Milwaukie and grow several kinds of pumpkins every year. Jan is right about Nichols Garden Nursery. It’s one of my trusted seed suppliers. They have an online catalog now.

  10. I have always wanted to go to a pumpkin farm, they look like so much fun! Though they pretty rare in Australia too :(

    Lovely photos!