Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. A phone that grows with your child.

Meet the Other Phone.
A phone that grows with your child.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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:
FrogFighter · 29/10/2023 18:03

You can actually recreate this yourself: buy some pumpkins from supermarket. Chuck in your local park or garden. Get DCs to ‘pick’ them.

or, just grow your own. Pumpkins are easy.

I agree traffic jams and crowds to fight over some pre placed pumpkins seems over commercialised. If you want fresh air, walk to the bloody shop and avoid being one of the ‘sheeple’.

(sorry if a bit shouty, wine has been taken)

ChishiyaBat · 29/10/2023 18:03

I've just been pumpkin picking, off the vine though. I'm carving them now and they are far superior to ones you get in lidl, they smell amazing, are soft and easy to scoop and my parrots are going to have a feast!

WimbyAce · 29/10/2023 18:04

We go to a local farm 5 mins away and the pumpkins are def grown there, some we had to break the stalks off. Kids love it, is a bit of fun in the fresh air and gives some extra money to the local farm, everyone's a winner in my eyes. Yes more expensive than going to Lidl but it's a bit more fun for the kids. I wouldn't be happy if they were charging entrance fee though.

itsmyp4rty · 29/10/2023 18:04

Yes I stupidly thought you actually got to pick the pumpkin off the plant until recently. I guess I just couldn't imagine that people would pay £10 to go to a muddy field to buy a muddy pumpkin that's just been dropped there by the farmer. I'd just take mine to the park to play in the mud and buy a nice clean pumpkin from Tesco for £2.50. I guess it's all about #makingmemories but good on the farmers for cashing in on people's need to make everything into an event.

Luana1 · 29/10/2023 18:04

funinthesun19 · 29/10/2023 17:44

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

We go to a pumpkin patch every year, the kids love it and I've never posted about it on social media..For us it's just one of the points in the year that marks the changing seasons, and beats an afternoon at home watching TV or whatever!

Justwondering36 · 29/10/2023 18:04

@midnightblue12 In previous years, I had wondered about the practicalities of the cutting!

This seems like one of the nicer Halloween activities. A clever bit of diversification for farmers.

Smallgeranium · 29/10/2023 18:04

It sounds fun, if you have children of the right age. We always do strawberry picking, apple picking and sunflower picking (it’s very rural round us). There’s no harm it it, surely?

Spinnymop · 29/10/2023 18:05

We went for the first time this year and bloody loved it! The big pumpkins were pre cut but the smaller squashes were still on the vine and had to be wrestled off. Its a fun day out, brings in extra income for struggling farmers, helps small businesses like burger vans, coffee stands, Doughnuts, etc, and I get mum points for 'making memories' with the dc. Win win.

BogRollBOGOF · 29/10/2023 18:05

Mine grew out of this kind of thing just as it started. There's a farm that does it in walking distance from home, and I get the joy of watching the pumpkins grow through the summer and autumn. Fair play to them.

I just know better than to drag a grudging DS1 through that volume of mud 😂

Pickingmyselfup · 29/10/2023 18:05

We went on a day out a few weeks ago, we looked at some animals, kids did a few activities as well as soft play. They also had a pumpkin picking session where we were given a voucher to get the kids a pumpkin and went on a tractor to the fields.

Some of them were placed, some still on the vines but the kids had a blast choosing their own pumpkin, going on a tractor and getting covered in mud. Me not so much.

I forgot to take any pictures (apart from of a guinea pig to send to my mum) so it definitely wasn't "all about the gram" It's because it's something different and a lot more fun for the kids than going to the supermarket to get one.

Echobelly · 29/10/2023 18:06

We did it about two years ago when our kids were 10 and 13 - I think all the other kids there were under 6 but ours didn't care and enjoyed the picking and climbing the giant pile of haybales. It was daft fun.

Sweetpeasaremadeforbees · 29/10/2023 18:07

Oh I too assumed that you 'picked' your own pumpkin, didn't know they were ready picked. What's the point in spreading them all out in a muddy field? Why not just pile them up somewhere dry and let people sort through them?

funinthesun19 · 29/10/2023 18:07

Screamingabdabz · 29/10/2023 18:03

I’m all for it so YABU, but let’s not pretend we are all doing it for kiddiwinkies to have ‘fun’ as much as we are getting photos to show off and brag about it on social media!

Exactly! It’s not about the kids having fun as much as it is about the haybale family photo 😂🎃👨‍👩‍👧‍👦

HalliwellManor · 29/10/2023 18:08

Dd10 and I usually go but gave it a miss this year.Most times we've gone over the last few years to different farms,most of the pumpkins were rotting and we trudged through mud just to get a rotting pumpkin and paid way above what Supermarkets charge.So this year we agreed not to go and she's quite happy with this,she's had 6 so far from Asda or Aldi and has loved carving and displaying them.

BretonBlue · 29/10/2023 18:08

We went pumpkin picking last weekend but we didn't post any pictures on social media. Perhaps it never happened at all...?

Or perhaps we could not sneer at a fairly innocuous activity that provides a small additional income stream for farmers and allows families an hour or two in the fresh air. This time of year is absolutely endless for the MN fucking miseries. Strap in until January, folks.

NumberTheory · 29/10/2023 18:09

That sounds dire, OP.

I assume they’re trying to emulate the American tradition, but on the cheap. In the US when we’ve done pumpkin picking it’s been an hours long trip with plenty to do for kids from toddlers to 8-9ish yrs old. Bouncy castles, “tractor” rides, maybe a goat or two to pet, bales of hay to climb, sit on, etc. If it’s on a farm then likely a maize maze, somewhere selling coffee and hot (non-alcoholic) apple cider, etc. Kids run a bit wild with the other kids, parents smile indulgently from behind their coffee before joining the kids and picking an over priced pumpkin to carve later.

It’s an expensive way to get a pumpkin, but a fun diversion for youngsters when they’re climbing the walls at home.

Tumbleweed101 · 29/10/2023 18:11

Our local one does grow the pumpkins on site and they post pictures of them growing through the year. They have a wide range of interesting varieties of pumpkins too. The pumpkins aren't expensive against supermarket prices and it doesn't cost anything unless you want to do some of the extras like a maze, hot chocolate, games etc.

Meeting · 29/10/2023 18:11

It's just a fun activity that gets people outside, I see no harm in it.

Obviously you're not 'picking' a pumpkin from a patch, but you're still wandering the field and choosing one you like.

As for it being am Instagram experience, so is going to the toilet for half of the people on there these days so I pay no attention to that.

NameChange30 · 29/10/2023 18:12

So much sneering about sharing photos on social media. I'm not even on Instagram and I don't share many photos on social media. But come on, parenting is a hard slog (it is for us anyway, DC1 is ND and DC2 is a screamy 3yo atm) and it's really mean-spirited to begrudge people sharing photos of the (often rare) good bits. Saying people only do it for the photos is just pushing the nastiness too far. We do it for the fun and sometimes take photos. So fucking what.

LegendsBeyond · 29/10/2023 18:13

It’s really naff just picking a pumpkin that’s been plonked in a field. All for the photos & likes sadly.

WiddlinDiddlin · 29/10/2023 18:13

The one near me grows the pumpkins themselves.

Then they pack all around and under, and along the rows with straw so its not slippy and horrible and is more insta-friendly, as they cut all the ripe ones off (and they leave the smaller ones on and you're told NOT to try to pull or cut them off!)...

It must be a fuckton more work than driving round a muddy field dropping pumpkins every few feet off the back of a trailer. But then it also costs more. Theres all the usual straw stacks and face painting and so on, its very popular.

I can see why those who aren't growing pumpkins would want in on the action and like all these seasonal attractions, some will put in the effort and do a great job and some will not!

Elmo230885 · 29/10/2023 18:14

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.

My thoughts exactly.

People seem to enjoy it and it's bringing much needed business to local places that wouldn't normally have been profitable at this time of year but I can't help but think it's all a tad daft!

NerrSnerr · 29/10/2023 18:14

Why does it matter if some people want that perfect photo? I love to see happy family pictures online, most other people's are more polished than anything I take so I like to see them.

If it's annoying or insulting or whatever to see people show pictures of these things on social media then stay off social media because that's the nature of the beast (or unfollow those who post these things you don't like).

It helps support local businesses, it's a relatively cheap couple of hours out and an hour stomping in the mud is something to do.

On our Halloween trail tomorrow I'm going to try and take the most instagram perfect family picture and post it on all my social media pages just in case any of you are my friends

Missingmyusername · 29/10/2023 18:14

It’s ridiculous. 🤦🏼‍♀️

AmazingSnakeHead · 29/10/2023 18:15

funinthesun19 · 29/10/2023 17:44

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

Bit harsh! We don't put or mention DC on social media a d still enjoyed one. To be honest I had thought that they were grown there and was a little bit shocked. But my DC is young enough not to question it and enjoyed choosing his own, loading in a wheelbarrow and running around in the mud. Next year I think I'll just buy some from Aldi and plonk them in the field behind our house!