Pumpkin patches have become part of Halloween tradition. In this Covid-19 year, even though there are restrictions on trick or treating in several places, it is good to see several Pumpkin patches in business, people can visit them wearing masks and maintaining social distancing. Pumpkin patches are really fun location for young children and adults as well.
Key Activities at Pumpkin Patches are
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Cow Train: cow train is a line of little train cars painted to look like cows, which is pulled around the pumpkin patch by a heavy-duty tractor
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Petting Zoo: Most pumpkin patches are part of a working farm, so the opportunity to pet and feed barnyard animals often comes with the territory. Most little ones are beyond excited interact with chickens, goats, and other livestock.
- Corn Mazes: If you’re looking for some good, clean fun for a kid who’s not quite ready for a haunted house, a corn maze is the way to go.
- Jumping Pillow: Jumping pillows let kids (about 10–20 of them at a time) bounce around with reckless abandon, without actually being reckless
- Pumpkin Chucking: Popularized by Discovery Science’s Punkin Chunkin, pumpkin chucking has become a mainstay at pumpkin patches across the United States. In its most basic form, the sport involves some unlucky pumpkins and a homemade catapult
- Photoshoots: Pumpkin patches are filled with props and scenes that create sweet seasonal photo ops for preschoolers to teens
Why are pumpkins associated with Halloween?
Before we carved pumpkins, the Irish chiseled creepy faces onto turnips. In fact, the name, jack-o’-lantern, comes from an Irish folktale about a man named Stingy Jack. Irish immigrants brought the tradition to America, home of the pumpkin, and it became an integral part of Halloween festivities
Here is a shot of one of the pumpkin patches close to my home
During Halloween we always make it a point to visit the pumpkin patch, when my daughters were younger they used to enjoy all the activities at the pumpkin patch, when they were teens, we used to have photoshoot at the pumpkin patch almost every year.
- 45 Different Varieties of Pumpkins
While the round orange pumpkin is the most recognizable pumpkin, pumpkins come in many different shapes, sizes, and colors. Some of the cleverly named pumpkin varietals include, Halloween in Paris from France, Cinderella (the varietal cultivated by the Pilgrims), and Wee-Be-Little a miniature pumpkin varietal.
- October = Pumpkin Month
80 percent of the pumpkin crop in the U.S. is available during October. That is roughly 800 million pumpkins out of the 1 billion pumpkins grown in the U.S. each year.
- “Pumpkin Capital” of the World
Morton, Illinois is the self-proclaimed pumpkin capital of the world. Illinois is one of the largest producers of pumpkin in the United States with 90 to 95 percent of its crop being used for processed pumpkin foods.
- Pumpkin Seeds
Pumpkin seeds contain more protein than peanuts and are a wonderful roasted with spices or salt. Sprinkle pumpkin seeds on top of salads or eat as a snack on their own.
- Pumpkins are 90 Percent Water
Admittedly, this is less of a surprising fact when you consider that pumpkins come from the same family as the watermelon and cucumber.
- Pumpkins are a Fruit
Pumpkins are a squash and a member of the gourd family, the same family as melons, cucumbers, and zucchini. While technically a fruit, pumpkins are generally treated as a vegetable in most recipes.
- Pumpkins are Grown on 6 of the 7 Continents
Pumpkins are native to Mexico, but are grown on every continent except Antarctica. Americans love pumpkin, but so do the people on the other 6 continents that choose to grow pumpkins.
World’s Heaviest Pumpkin
According to the Guinness World Records, Beni Meier of Ludwigsburg, Germany set the record in 2014 for growing the heaviest pumpkin, which weighed 2323 pounds.
Popular Pumpkin Recipes
There are varieties of pumpkin, but the one most commonly used for carving jack-o’-lanterns is the Connecticut field variety. The pulp of this variety is stringy and not the best for eating. A sweeter variety is preferred for baking. The colonists may have developed an early version of pumpkin pie by filling a hollowed-out pumpkin with a blend of spices, milk, and honey and then roasting it over hot ashes. Pumpkin is a source of potassium, vitamin A, and other nutrients. It can be used in pies, breads, cakes, cookies, soups, and other foods. There are about 500 seeds in a pumpkin, and these can be roasted or dried for eating. Pumpkin blossoms can also be used in recipes.
This post is part of the #StateChallenge Meetups from Team USA, hosted by @Kwiksatik and @Denise_Barlock
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plus the apple cider, the donuts wow … Now I am craving them again.
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