"Pumpkin picking" WTF

[HauntedGusset]

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 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!)

It's all over Facebook! Can't see the appeal at all haha

It’s all a bit fake but like everything you get what you can put of it and my dd enjoyed it, finding the perfect pumpkin, pushing a wheelbarrow round, looking at all the different coloured and sized pumpkins and there was a slide as well! luckily we did it on a gorgeous day pre mud; great way to spend a few hours.

Yep we went ‘pumpkin picking’ last year and it was literally just a load of pumpkins plonked in a field which were overpriced. And then a few things set up basically just for Instagram. Dc weren’t particularly interested, the only thing they were into was this pumpkin house thing but they couldn’t even play in it as everyone else was so busy trying to get their frigging Instagram photos we felt they were in the way. Haven’t bothered this year!

I don’t have social media.

I did it because my child found my child found it fun and I enjoy doing things that my child finds fun.

Pumpkin picking is great!
And the muddier you get, the better!

It is so much more expensive than getting one from s shop though and you know the land owner has probably just bought them for the exact same shop and sold them on for triple the price.

Pumpkins? Whatever happened to the turnip lanterns of my youth?? I don't think we knew what a pumpkin was back in the 60s.

You trying to belittle and shame posters for enjoying an activity with their pet?
I have no words….

Nearly missed this.

Geez.

Yes, I think a family day out at the farm is a wholesome activity. We do it a few times a year - usually Halloween, Christmas and a DC's birthday. It's about time together, and time away from commitments. Couldn't give two shits about the reality of farming tbh.

If the farm makes a profit out of it then all the better, it's a small family business and it's nice to see them doing well. As so many have pointed out, there's a CoL crisis.

Anyone who has tried carving a swede lantern will understand the appeal of pumpkins.

And weren't they sods to hollow out of carve! Don't know they're born these days. When did pumpkins become the 'thing' in the UK?

After a large Irish community emigrated to America, the tradition began to shift towards pumpkins, although obviously some places remain traditional. Pumpkins are much better for it; they're easier to hollow out and carve and the smell is less strong.

As before, there's inevitably some cross-cultural influence from Samhain as it shares the date.

Please read eatsleepfarmrepeat 's post, as it answers most of the questions on here!
I must admit, in my naivete I used to think the pumpkins lying next to the vines had naturally fallen off. I can see why they would be moved to a more navigable field during this wet weather, considering they had to be cut anyway.

Pumpkins? Whatever happened to the turnip lanterns of my youth?? I don't think we knew what a pumpkin was back in the 60s.

My Dad grew them back then, and we grew up in the 70s with his home grown pumpkins.

Halloween celebration, don't like that at all.

Had a great time pumpkin picking, restaurant on site, loads of wheel barrows, pumpkin wash, entertainment for kids, prices were really cheap, acres and acres of pumpkin fields, a really great few hours of fun for us, and I would go again.

And we were happy to support a local farmer. So many varieties too, and by chance we were there the first day of their season, at the beginning of October and the pumpkins have stored really well, and were cut into lanterns today.

I'm pleased I didn’t have to spend hours carving a turnip, as I did as a kid.

We had a great day out, and I’d do it without kids too

If you've ever tried to carve a turnip, you will understand why pumpkins have become so popular. 😆

The smell of singed turnip is very evocative though - I'm six years old again.

I took my dog to one for some photos
I love this!

Not shame them I am just genuinely perplexed. There is no 'with' here. A dog is a dog, not a human. So going to this type of activity to take photos with a dog is baffling to me, do you sit down years from now with the dog and reminisce over photos about the time you went pumpkin picking? The level of anthropomorphism which is in evidence on Mumsnet generally is staggering to me. And I genuinely believe that when we look back at some future time when the shit really hits the fan, we will look upon it as another sign of our decadence as a species, not least because it contrasts so horribly with how we treat the rest of the natural world, including mammals who aren't cats and dogs.

Yeah, I think some here believe small children belong up a chimney, wielding wire brushes and smeared with soot.

The farm local to us definitely grows them, some were cut, from the vine and some weren’t.
Acres of them and so many varieties.
It was a fun day, with delicious food, a local farm shop, ran a restaurant too.

So going to this type of activity to take photos with a dog is baffling to me, do you sit down years from now with the dog and reminisce over photos about the time you went pumpkin picking?

Presumably the dog enjoyed the activity, as did their owner and the owner will enjoy the photos.

Now is that really so hard to understand?

@theleafandnotthetree I'm just laughing at the idea of the world completely going to shit and us being at war and PP thinking 'I wish I didn't take the dog pumpkin picking!!'

I actually think they'd be glad of the happy memories. Do I think it's bonkers to take a dog pumpkin picking? Yes I do but bonkers isn't a bad thing. I hope pp prints the pictures and puts them in a frame.

When you earn your money I think you should spend it on what you want to, if pumpkin pictures with your dog is that then why bloody not. Life is too short to not do things because grumpy people on Mumsnet don't approve.

There are so many Mumsnetters who are so baffled and perplexed by the idea that some people like things that they don't. I wonder how they navigate, well, anything.

Although the reach to justify this wilful obtuseness by claiming that people who love dogs aren't just baffling and perplexing but actually directly responsible for all the failings of humanity and destroying the planet is a new one. A very very silly one.

I’m not one for Halloween at all but I went with my friends and their children pumpkin picking with my toddler son last week.. I say pumpkin picking, I didn’t pick or buy a single pumpkin, but he played in the mud with his little pals, we went on a tractor ride (because he doesn’t get enough of those at home on our farm 🤔), we played on the various set-ups and had some adorable photos. It was just a day out, we all had fun, it’s not any deeper than that!

It's the notion of dogs enjoying activities that we do, or us telling ourselves they do that baffles me. So far as I can tell, my dog enjoys running, catching sticks, peeing against things and sniffing other dogs asses. I occasionally have him with me when I'm doing things that don't involve those activities but not because I think he would enjoy it or as an opportunity to take photos of him. I'm sorry, but I find that weird!

Well, would you look at that? You had plenty of words after all.