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Original poster

"Pumpkin picking" WTF

388 replies

HauntedGusset · 29/10/2023 17:21

Driving home from a visit to family today there was an absolutely massive traffic jam caused by cars entering/leaving a farm shop that also has a small events centre attached. I last passed the farm shop a few weeks ago and they had some other event on with cars parked all over the field nearest the road. Anyway today the same field was covered in huge pumpkins with families trudging round in the mud "picking" them - but they didn't grow there, they can't have done as the same field was a car park last month Confused They've just been plonked there. Someone tell me why this is a thing?

(And no, I don't have small DC anymore so I suppose I've missed this becoming popular, I was vaguely aware people pick pumpkins but imagined it to be like picking strawberries where you actually pick them fresh from the plant, not like a crapper muddier version of just buying one from Lidl!)

OP posts:
FelicityBeedle · 29/10/2023 17:23

Yeah I think it’s daft, there’s a few photogenic spots and then you pay 5x the price it would normally cost. But people enjoy it and get nice pictures so I’m trying to be less of a grump about them.

WiIIow · 29/10/2023 17:27

What's wrong with it? Bit of fun for the kids. I wish it was a thing when mine were little they'd have loved picking their own in their wellies.

Original poster
HauntedGusset · 29/10/2023 17:27

Nobody was getting nice pictures today, against the delighful backdrop of mud, a crowd of muddy people, and a snarled up dual carriageway 🤣

I suppose I'm not the "target market" so it doesn't matter if I can't see the attraction!

OP posts:
CandyLeBonBon · 29/10/2023 17:27

It's no different to picking out a freshly cut Christmas tree from the garden centre.

It's a but of a fun family activity and is not, believe it or not, compulsory!

Traffic is shit everywhere. Life is a bit grim and miserable atm so I can't begrudge a bit of wholesome family fun like this!

TheKeatingFive · 29/10/2023 17:28

We went to one last year and it was lovely, if a bit over priced. There are lots of worse things people could be doing with their time and money. 🤷‍♀️

RudsyFarmer · 29/10/2023 17:29

I pumpkin picked at Lidl this year having seen the prices locally of an organised event which would have set me back in the region of £50.

Melodysmum12 · 29/10/2023 17:29

Because my 5 year old enjoyed choosing a pumpkin in the mud with his wellies having photos taken on bales of hay, pushing a wheelbarrow.. having a hot chocolate. Yes all in all it cost us £10 but he had fun so I didn’t see the issue!!

fluffypotatoes · 29/10/2023 17:30

Yeah I'm disappointed it isn't actually go and get one straight off the plant. I picked one from sainsburys instead.

fluffypotatoes · 29/10/2023 17:31

Melodysmum12 · 29/10/2023 17:29

Because my 5 year old enjoyed choosing a pumpkin in the mud with his wellies having photos taken on bales of hay, pushing a wheelbarrow.. having a hot chocolate. Yes all in all it cost us £10 but he had fun so I didn’t see the issue!!

Fair enough! Maybe this is the target. Gets the kids in the countryside and mud so that can only be good

Wellhellooooodear · 29/10/2023 17:31

I couldn't be arsed this year, got mine from Aldi!

Beezknees · 29/10/2023 17:31

Meh, it's a fun day out for kids. My DS is far too old for that kind of thing now but I love seeing all the photos from friends and relatives with younger children.

batsandeggs · 29/10/2023 17:32

It’s designed for kids who tend to love running about in mud and choosing something special to bring home for Halloween. Not sure what’s so offensive about it.

00100001 · 29/10/2023 17:32

I presume it's the same thing that draws people to pay to go to lavender fields in the summer?

TeenLifeMum · 29/10/2023 17:33

Ours are grown there but I’m fairly sure they bring a few extras in to scatter. Dc love a trip to muddy pumpkin patch and there’s activities and goats you can pet so a bit more of an afternoon out as a family than a trip to the supermarket.

Lisbeth50 · 29/10/2023 17:33

We have been pumpkin picking but the pumpkins were actually growing on the vines in the field. I'd not heard of them just being plonked in fields until this year.

Overthebow · 29/10/2023 17:34

It’s something fun for kids to do. My toddler loves choosing her own pumpkin then taking it home and carving it.

DyslexicPoster · 29/10/2023 17:36

We went to one last Saturday. It's a pyo farm so probly grown there but all cut first. It's was £3.50 and no compulsion to buy a pumpkin. Even the 16 year old dressed up and got some exercise and fresh air fun. I think it's pretty inoffensive really. Kids are only young for such a short time. We also got £3 pumpkins from Tesco. It's a local business pulling money into the village

ShirleyPhallus · 29/10/2023 17:37

The ones in America look so much better than here, I have seen very very many muddy fields with pumpkins plopped in against a backdrop of pylons

GoodOldEmmaNess · 29/10/2023 17:39

Seriously? They aren't actually grown there? Bloody hell, there is a pumpkin picking farm diversification business activity just round the corner from me and I had absolutely assumed they were grown there. If this is not the case I feel like flipping giving up on the human race. What a completley barren, stupid, nihilstic thing to do, paddling about in the mud pretending to be harvesting when you are actually just buying stuff from outdoor supermarket aisles. Please, aliens, invade and destoy us. We have had our time.

Goodadvice1980 · 29/10/2023 17:40

OP I agree it does seem a bit cringey and another americanisation 🎃 however with the cost of living crisis I think if parent(s) are struggling with money and they can afford it for their DC it’s probably better value than a crappy amusement park!

Freshair1 · 29/10/2023 17:41

It's naff. It's for the #makingmemories crowd. It's all about the pictures.

gotomomo · 29/10/2023 17:43

We went to a pyo it was fun, well I enjoyed it at least, an hour's entertainment for £8 (2 pumpkins)

funinthesun19 · 29/10/2023 17:44

It’s all for social media. It’s so the mum can get a picture.

Asparagus1 · 29/10/2023 17:44

I don’t get it either really 🙈 thankfully my 6 year old is happy getting them from the supermarket

Dustpantsandbush · 29/10/2023 17:45

My 7yo DD was absolutely disgusted when we pulled up to a farm to pick pumpkins last year, she clearly thought we were going to some sort of pumpkin warehouse in the clean and dry where we would pick shiny clean pumpkins from a shelf. We spent an hour sliding around in the mud and scooping sloppy pumpkins into a wheel barrow much to her chagrin. We gave it a miss this year 🤣