‘Early Bird’ pumpkin pickers flock to Staffordshire’s biggest patch!
Pumpkin fans by the thousands arrived to make the most of the 30-acre pumpkin patch at Staffordshire’s Lower Drayton Farm over the last two weekends.
Despite it being rather early in the pumpkin picking season, over 3,000 Halloween lovers headed into Staffordshire’s biggest pumpkin patch over the weekends of 28th & 29th September and 5th & 6th October to guarantee the pick of the crop and make the most of the farm’s huge indoor carving barn. In addition to a pumpkin each as part of their ticket, visitors enjoyed picking their own potatoes, carrots and sweetcorn to take home and cook.
Families were kept entertained with the pumpkin patch play area, meeting friendly farm animals, strolling through the ‘spooky walk’ and joining in with fun ‘Witch School’ activities as part of their experience. In addition to enjoying an optional tractor-trailer ride to the pumpkin patch, a delicious range of street food was on offer to keep hunger at bay.
Following a spookily good start the event – which takes place just 1 mile of J13 of the M6 between Stafford and Penkridge (so easy to reach for visitors from across Staffordshire, Birmingham and the wider West Midlands) – will now open daily from 12th – 31st October. Farmer Richard Bower says:
“PYO Pumpkins is a hugely popular event for us and we’re always looking to make it a bigger and better experience for visitors year-on-year. We aim to offer a lot more than just picking pumpkins, with a really seasonal day out for all ages. This year we have both adult and children’s spooky walks to choose from, plus the new Witch School keeps younger visitors entertained in the Pumpkin Village once they’ve had enough of being creative.
“We’ve also added a pumpkin wash and the fact that we have hard-standing car parks, an indoor carving barn and indoor toilets with hot running water means visitors can still have a great time, whatever the weather. We’ve had a fantastic first two weekends – we’re always surprised by how many serious pumpkin carvers want to come as early as possible in the season – and we can’t wait to welcome more pumpkin fans over the coming weeks. Having planted over 150,000 seeds there should be plenty of pumpkins to go around!”
During their PYO Pumpkins experience, visitors can also try to find the golden pumpkin hidden somewhere in the patch for the chance to win a ticket to the farm’s award-winning PLAY@ family attraction. Additional pumpkins are available to purchase on the day, and visitors can also opt to buy an ‘invisible’ pumpkin, with proceeds going directly to the farm’s efforts to raise funds for its charity partner Birmingham Children’s Hospital.
For full details and to book tickets, head to www.lowerdraytonfarm.co.uk/pumpkins
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