I’ll admit, picking my Halloween pumpkin from a pumpkin patch seemed like a bizarre addition to my 30 Before 30 list. But Halloween is my favourite time of year and I’ve always wanted to visit one of those sprawling pumpkin patches you see all over Instagram at this time of year. When I lived in the UK I’d pick my pumpkin out of a plastic crate at Asda and in Bahrain the one and only pumpkin I could find fit snugly in the palm of my hand. Not exactly the most exciting pumpkin picking experiences.
So, since I’m spending Halloween stateside this year, Cody, some friends and I decided to visit the Bates Nut Farm pumpkin patch near San Diego to make my pumpkin picking dreams come true.
More Than Just Pumpkin Picking
Nestled in Valley Centre, California, Bates Nut Farm was about an hour drive away, but it was totally worth the trip. It goes without saying that finding the perfect pumpkin was our top priority, but the farm had plenty more to offer too.
Firstly, let’s talk about the snacks. No prizes for guessing that Bates Nut Farm had a lot of nuts on offer, but they had so much more besides. The old-style farm shop was packed with chocolates, jams, jellies, seasonings, sauces, salsas, dried fruits and the best homemade fudge I’ve ever tasted in my life. They even had Halloween and Christmas decorations. Seriously, anywhere I can buy Halloween decorations and flavoured pistachios is my kind of shop.
Besides the endless variety of tasty snacks, there was plenty to do at Bates Nut Farm. There was a petting zoo, pony rides, a straw maze and a hayride. My inner child was out in full force.
But my favourite thing about Bates Nut Farm was how quaint and traditional it was. Maybe it’s because I’d never been to a pumpkin patch before and I’d never even considered hayrides to be a form of entertainment, but wandering around the farm and soaking up the Autumnal atmosphere (which, by the way, is my favourite kind of atmosphere), it just felt like a good, old-fashioned, wholesome time.
Show Me The Pumpkins
And then there were the pumpkins.
Who knew pumpkins could get so big? There were pumpkins so huge there that they made a comfortable seat. And there were so many of them! Piles and piles of them in every direction. This was certainly a change of pace from picking out the least damaged looking pumpkin my local supermarket had to offer back in the UK.
But we eventually picked out our perfect pumpkins. You know, after plenty of umm-ing, ahh-ing and getting down in the dirt to get some good pictures. And so, nauseous from too much vanilla flavoured fudge and clutching my perfect pumpkin, I left Bates Nut Farm with the best-looking pumpkin I’ve ever chosen and a big old smile on my face.
That’s one 30 Before 30 challenge down and 29 more to go.
