Pumpkin Patches: Not just for kids!

 We recently stopped at a roadside pumpkin patch. I'd much rather pick my own pumpkin than choose one out of a bin at the grocery store!

 As it turned out, we were just about the only people at the patch that afternoon, so we truly had our pick of the lot! There were three large fields of pumpkins to survey. I was convinced that in order to grow pumpkins, you need very sandy soil, but the owner told me that's not the case. Pumpkins grow just fine in any kind of soil. Who knew? Certainly not me!

In addition to pumpkins, they had some really awesome gourds shaped like birds and all kinds of other strange things.

We could have chosen pumpkins from these tidy piles, but we did not!

We ventured into the patch to pick our pumpkins right off the vine!

Look at these adorable gourds! I've bought many of them over the years but have never seen them growing in the wild!

 Awww!

The pumpkins were so perfectly round that I asked the owner if she turned them periodically. Yes, I'm sure she was rolling her eyes at my city girl question. She very kindly told me that no, she does not rotate her pumpkins, as she would be out in the patch from morning until night turning them this way and that!

 

I chose this one. Perfectly round!

Spouse liked the one with a big bump on it. It will make a nice nose.

 

And, although she's not home, we chose a pumpkin for Bailey -- plus two small ones for the kitties -- for a total of five pumpkins in all. Spouse looked pretty outdoorsy cutting our pumpkins right off the vine.

 

 

 It was fun visiting the pumpkin patch. They're not just for kids anymore!

 jp