Its going to be a Spooktacular Pumpkin Season

Now, those of you who live nearby, or follow us on Facebook, may have noticed our pumpkin content last Autumn as we did our first ever Pick Your Own Pumpkin season here at Laverock Hall Farm. Well, we had so much fun, and think you did too, so we’re gearing up and getting ready to welcome you all back again this year!

The pumpkins are growing, the signs are being repainted, our staff are ready to help, and I’m writing this blog! We had such a blast last year, that we’re going to be bigger than last year, with some surprises to be announced once they’re all finalised! 

Since we’re a working farm, we are growing so many fun varieties of pumpkins and squashes too - some we know are great for taste and cooking, others are great for growing big and carving, and some are cute or knobbly! That might sound like a very odd adjective, but they can be great for education and for sensory stuff too. 

Since we’ve been writing about the pumpkins for a few months, I thought it might be best to also answer some FAQs that we had last year, or that I’d have as a mum myself.

Now, I’m sure your first question is ‘But when can we come? We’re so excited and want to be there ASAP!’ Well, we will be doing weekends only from the 9th of October onwards. We won’t be doing bookings, just like we didn’t last year, for a few reasons. One is that we don’t want to make you have to stick to allotted time slots, and 2 is that if we get a rainy day we don’t want you to feel like you have to come to us then! 

‘What times will you be open during the day? I need my pumpkin fix!’ Now this one may be a bit more open to speculation depending on the weather, but we are not happy to turn people away, and that’s a fact! Currently, we think we will be opening the gate from 10am-4pm in the hope of catching the most sunlight hours we can.

‘How can I keep updated on everything Pumpkin @ Laverock Hall related?’ We have a Facebook event right here - https://fb.me/e/2HSxvrtqb so feel free to check up here!

‘We’re a big family, school group, play group, or a member of our group has some extra needs we think you could help with - what should we do?’ We would really appreciate if you could message us on our Facebook page with anything along these lines, we will do our utmost to make sure all needs are met, and will also *hopefully* be able to open up to some local schools too! 

‘There’s no kids in my group, will I still have fun?’ Judging by last year, you’ll definitely still have a blast! Last year we had our photographer Julie Butler taking great photos, she’s available for bookings online for our outdoor pumpkin studio - Instagram won’t know what’s hit it!! Also, we must not forget that there’s no age limit on carving a pumpkin!

‘What should I wear and what should I bring?’ Well, we are a working farm, so there will be mud and there will be puddles - so maybe no Gucci trainers, and aim more for wellies and a waterproof! Even if it’s a dry day, the pumpkin leaves will still be wet. We’d also recommend you bring a carrier bag (or 4!) for carrying the pumpkins in, and maybe something to help you cut the pumpkins from their vines as we are a Cut Your Own Pumpkins, and don’t believe in placing the pumpkins on a bed of straw for you to choose them!

‘I had a great time last year! Is there anything else I should know before I come?’ If you came last year, feel free to post any fun times or photos to our Facebook event - we will be picking some winners to win their stash of pickings this year for free so get sending!

For now, I’d just like to say that it’s going to be a first come first served basis in terms of everything we have, so the earlier in our event you can come the better really! Once we run out of pumpkins we will have to close up shop, but fingers crossed that won’t be until the spooky day itself! Plus, it’s a great idea to tick ‘Going to’ on our event, so that you can receive any updates if we are to add any new dates, or if you win a prize. 

The whole Laverock Hall team is so excited to welcome you here in October!