Pumpkin Patches Rock!

Another awesome thing to look forward to in the fall: Pumpkin Patches!!

I love pumpkin patches. I especially love the patches that are not overly commercial --not sponsored by a company on the Dow Jones, or open until midnight with special 1,000-watt bulbs you can see in space, or crawling with costumed characters. I know, I'm probably uber-boring, but I truly love the patches that have pumpkins, some hay, maybe some farm animals... and if the "added value" is low-tech, I'm all the more excited about it.

The pumpkin patch we went to when Megan was a baby closed down, but it will forever be in my memory as The Perfect Pumpkin Patch. It was called Westside Farms, and it was way out in the country, and it WAS country. The barn was a working barn; the animals were true farm animals, not just some rented pony from some 4-H student; and the fields of pumpkins stretched as far as you could see. There was a hay ride, but it was practical: the hike out to find the pumpkin was a delight, as you only had your mental image of your perfect pumpkin to hold; the trek back with the actual gourd was a little more harrowing!

Westside Farm had a hay pyramid, and children of all ages swarmed up and down the bales with gleeful abandon. They had a little kiosk with farm-fresh veggies and gourds available for purchase, too, but most of their focus was on providing an opportunity for families to find their Halloween jack-o-lantern material and give them a taste of a working farm.

When the farm closed down when Megan was a toddler, I was distraught. Now where would we go for a pumpkin? Sure, we could buy a pumpkin at the grocery store, but where was the fun? Where was the tractor ride and the hay bales and the snuffly snort of a freakishly large pig? (And no, the checker's impressions don't count.)

We found a couple of other places, and they had their charms -- one was a vast field dotted with old tractors you could climb on, another featured a preschool-aged craft area with colored macaroni noodles to thread on long strings, a third had a maze built into their hay pyramid -- but none had that perfect mix of professional, local, and family that we were looking for.

This weekend we decided to visit a farm based on a few things which may or may not make sense to you. One, I went to school with a guy with that last name, and I was pretty sure this was his family's ranch. Two, it was close to Matt's mom's house, and we were there for breakfast. Three, it had signs. Four, it had a website with pictures.

The farm was out in the country, but not too far out. (Bonus points awarded.) It had a decent selection of pumpkins gathered, and a hay bale pyramid. (Again, ding, ding!) It had a sophisticated hay maze, with doors and an entrance and exit -- but it was so dark we couldn't get more than a few feet in before we got overwhelmed with panic. Enter the farmer himself (and yes, it was his son that I went to school with) who led us through the maze with a flashlight -- and down into the secret haunted house portion, built underground and populated with all manner of creepy Halloween-y stuff! (We totally lucked out and got there as it was opening, and tagged along for his safety check... I assume they also go along with other families, or no one would discover the tons of work that went into this display!)

At the far end of the patch there was a fence divided into two sort of gate-type openings, with two lengths of rubbery stuff attached to the openings. It looked like a giant slingshot... but how could that be? Just beyond the fence separating the patch from the working farm was a herd of cows, sort of staring at us like we were there to entertain them. There was a pond on their side, too, and in the pond were the remains of several pumpkins. We could see a big box of pumpkins standing nearby, and sure enough, there was a sign inviting us to try our shot! It was a slingshot! And we got to fling pumpkins! At the cows! Across the pond! Let me just say right now we had more fun stretching back that slingshot and attempting to launch those pumpkins than we've had in a long time! Apparently the goal was to get across the pond, to the bank where the cows were, but I'm guessing you had to produce an acutal degree in Agriculture to be able to meet that goal. Ours were lucky to make it past the gate to roll down the close bank -- mine fell at my feet at the starting mark, in fact!-- but that didn't diminish the fun one little bit! The cows were eternally hopeful, however gimpily we flung pumpkins, patiently standing and watching as we launched shot after shot their way.

The kids chose ginormous pumpkins and hauled them to the pay station in wagons, and we loaded them into the minivan's way back with happy sighs of contentment. THIS was a pumpkin patch and a half!

Sure, a pumpkin patch pumpkin costs a bit more than one you can pick up at Home Depot or along with the broccoli, waffles and dryer sheets at the grocery store... but how often do you get to slingshot pumpkins at cows in the grocery store? And how would you ever get pictures like these without your friendly local farmer? (Totally worth every penny -- and then some!)