Pumpkins, just the thought of these orange colored gourd-like squash takes you back to childhood. Create a fall tradition with your child to pick pumpkins in the field and learn about agriculture at the same time.
You can inspire their love for reading by reading about pumpkins. One year I read the story Backyard Giants by Susan Warren outloud to my kids, a couple chapters at a time, following the adventures of Ron and Dick Wallace. It not only teaches about giant pumpkins, but also lessons about the importance of setting a goal and values of determination and sharing knowledge with others. It was published in 2007. When we heard Ron & Dick broke the world record growing a 2,009 pound giant pumpkin in 2012, we cheered for them.
Our family enjoys the tradition of visiting a pumpkin patch and then carving a pumpkin to use as a Halloween decoration. Get ready for messy fun. Getting out the seed is just part of the reward. You can roast them in the oven as a treat. These seed are good for kids, theyhave protein, magnesium, copper, and zinc. Kids just love the bite sized crunch.
I took this photo at Barn N Bunk farm in Trenton, OH. We've found many of such large farms offer fun family entertainment. We've enjoyed hay rides and corn mazes. I've learned that the Midwest is central to pumpkins with 95% of pumpkins intended for processing grown in Illinois. Here's 4 key places to discover pumpkins with your family:
1. Art and Pumpkin Festival, Half Moon Bay, CA - 42 year tradition, world champion pumpkin weigh off, parade, pumpkin sculptures, crafts, so many events, there's an app for it http://www.miramarevents.com/pumpkinfest/about_show.html
2. Vala's Pumpkin Patch, Gretna, Nebraska (NE) - $13.29 per person admission, even sells seasons passes which makes sense when you see their entertainment schedule- stunt dog show, 4-H day, dance show, Scarecrow band, monster dash run, pig races, and s'mores at the fire http://www.valaspumpkinpatch.com/
3. Papa's Pumpkin Patch, Bismark, North Dakota (ND) attracts 50,000 visitors per year, enjoying bale mazes and a crib sandbox or buying pumpkin cookies and pumpkin pie, mid Sept. to late Oct.
https://papaspumpkinpatch.wordpress.com/
4. Morton Pumpkin Festival, Morton, Illinois (IL) home of Libby's canned pumpkin where 80% of the world's pumpkin is processed, pumpkin idol, recipe challenge, tennis tournament http://www.mortonpumpkinfestival.org/
5. Cox Farms, Centreville, Virginia (VA) - 40 year tradition, watch for their Nov. Pumpkin Madness event where you can recycle your used pumpkin for some smashing fun http://www.coxfarms.com/fallfestival.aspx
