October is one of my favourite times of the year, and I always enjoy savouring simple, seasonal pleasures: misty walks, cosy evenings with candles, decorating the house for Halloween… And now I have a new autumn tradition to add to the list: pumpkin-picking!
I love having pumpkins around the house, but I’m not a fan of the bright orange ones – they don’t exactly suit my neutral decor style! I much prefer the green, brown and white ‘ghost’ varieties, but finding some in the local shops is always a bit hit-or-miss. So, this year, Chris and I decided to head out to one of the many pumpkin patches that have sprung up around the UK to harvest our own.
Our choice of location was Farrington’s Farm, just south of Bristol and Bath. It has a 17-acre field and a huge array of different varieties – you just reserve a slot in advance, collect a wheelbarrow at the entrance and then pay for what you’ve picked at the end. I was a bit worried we’d feel out of place as we don’t have kids, but we didn’t – although it is very family-friendly, we spotted plenty of other child-free couples and groups of friends wandering around. And it was so much fun! It took a bit of rooting around in the undergrowth to find the sizes and colours we were searching for, but we got there in the end – and picking the pumpkins ourselves meant we could leave the stalks as long as possible, which I always think lends a lovely wild look to them.
