Picking your perfect pumpkin for Halloween is an important moment of the season for many of us – young and old in Cornwall!
I’ve always said Autumn is my favourite time of year, and I often have a hard time choosing between Halloween and Christmas when it comes to my favourite seasonal celebration. There’s something about Cornish crispy leaves, the smell of bonfires, and glowing pumpkins that feels magical – in a spooky AND comforting way. I can’t quite put my finger on it…
Anyway asides from grabbing a last minute pumpkin as a decoration from the supermarket, there are lots of pick-your-own pumpkin patches around Cornwall that have been grown locally and where you can go and choose your own. This is a fun activity for kids at half term, but totally acceptable for grown-ups too. Those pumpkins have got to have a specific look, right?
Below are a couple of places that are offering ‘pick your own pumpkins’ in Cornwall over this October.
Pick Your Own Pumpkin at Trevaskis Farm, nr. Hayle
Known for their ‘pick your own’ fields offering things like strawberry picking, apples, beans and more throughout the year, Trevaskis is a popular destination for pumpkin picking in October. We visited this week to find our perfect pumpkins, and while it was pretty busy, we still found some really good ones!
There is also a restaurant on-site and a farm shop where you can buy other seasonal veg grown locally too.
Pick Your Own Pumpkin (+ Pumpkin Carving & Activities) at Healey’s Cyder Farm, nr. Perranporth
I can’t think of many things more Autumnal than visiting Healey’s Cyder Farm to press your own apples, explore their orchards, and pick your own pumpkin from their pumpkin patch. They also offer tractor rides and tours, and the restaurant is open for Sunday roast too!
Pick Your Own Pumpkin (+ Pumpkin Carving & Actvities) at Dairyland’s ‘Scaryland’ Event, nr Newquay
Head over to Dairyland for their Halloween ‘Scaryland’ event with a pumpkin patch, pumpkin carving, workshops and – of course – childrens play areas. A great family day out for Autumn in Cornwall.
Pick Your Own Pumpkin (+ Halloween Mazes) at the Cornish Maize Maze, nr Saltash
The Cornish Maize Maze has their own pumpkin patch, plus have a special family friendly maze open for younger kids to enjoy on their pumpkin picking day out. Or for older kids, a longer ‘Maze of Horrors’ is also available!
Pick Your Own Pumpkin at Splattenridden Farm, near Hayle
This local farm has a large pumpkin patch to choose and buy your own pumpkins for carving at home. Check out their Facebook profile for more info!
But what can you do with your pumpkins once Halloween is over?
This year an estimated 8 million pumpkins (about 18,000 tonnes of food waste) will be binned once Halloween’s over, because most people who buy them for the season don’t eat the tasty flesh inside.
Below are a few delicious ways you can make use of your pumpkin innards:
- Baked Stuffed Pumpkin (BBC Good Food)
- Creamy Roast Pumpkin Soup (Cookie and Kate)
- Spiced Pumpkin Pie (Joy Food Sunshine)
- Pumpkin Coconut Curry (Lazy Cat Kitchen)
- Toasted Pumpkin Seeds: Three Ways (101 Cookbooks)
And if you still have leftovers afterwards, try to think outside the box when it comes to disposing of your waste, rather than putting it in your bin to go to landfill.
If you have a garden, it’s a great idea to start a compost if you haven’t already, and you can add your veg scraps and pumpkin waste to this. This is the easiest most sustainable way to get rid of your pumpkin remains, and any raw plant waste from the kitchen!
However if you don’t have a garden, perhaps you know someone who does, or in Cornwall there are plenty of farms and small-holdings who may appreciate recycled pumpkins for their animals to feed on or play with, so why not ask around to see if anyone would like them.
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