Seattle's Child

Your guide to a kid-friendly city

Pumpkin patch planning

A few patch options for planning your perfect pumpkin-picking expedition.

 

There are so many positively wonderful words that start with P, none more perfect this time of year than “Pumpkin.” The word evokes fall, cozy sweaters and savory soups. You may think of cinnamon, jovial gatherings and hunkering down by a roaring fire. Just about everybody has an idea of their perfect pumpkin. Some people like them slippery, smooth and round, without a single blemish. Some like them oddly shaped and warty. Some like them orange; others prefer green, yellow or ghostly white. It’s a personal pumpkin preference, and the differences are celebrated at pumpkin patches across the country every October. How you pick your pumpkin patch is also a personal preference. More often than not, it becomes a family tradition. Here are a few patch options for planning your perfect pumpkin-picking expedition.

 

The Simple Patch: Gather your family, pile them into the car and proceed to your nearest farm. Wander through the fields, pluck your pumpkins, pose for your family selfie, then haul your pumpkin purchases home. Bells and whistles are blissfully absent at Jubilee Biodynamic Farm in Carnation. Saturdays and Sundays in October, you’ll find a hayride to the pumpkins, farm animals, U-pick flowers, a fresh market and a small kids’ shed hay maze. jubileefarm.org/pumpkin-season

 

A Little of This, A Little of That Patch: The U-pick is a must, of course, but you wouldn’t be averse to some extra entertainment. Maybe not a full-day trip, but you’re willing to spend the afternoon in the country. So go get lost in Lake Stevens at the Carleton Farms “Farm Scene Investigation” corn maze, then try your hand at the pumpkin cannon, lounge in a large spider web and slip down a tube slide. Just don’t forget your pumpkin when you leave. carletonfarm.com

 

The Everything and the Kitchen Sink Patch: You want it all. You want to get there early and leave late. You want the corn maze, the hayrides, the face painting, the pumpkin cannons, the human hamster wheels… wait, what? Yes, you can have all that and more at Stocker Farms in Snohomish. Kids can ride a barrel train, race rubber duckies, fish for trout, bounce for hours and ride ponies. For the older kids, Stocker turns Stalker in the corn maze when the sun goes down. Spookilicious! stockerfarms.com

These are just three of the many pumpkin possibilities out there. Check out Seattle’s Child’s full list of patches on p. __  and on our website at seattleschild.com before you make a permanent plan. After all, purposeful pumpkin-picking planning promotes a positively perfect path to the patch. We’d love to see your favorite pumpkin place, so please post your patch pics at facebook.com/SeattlesChild

About the Author

Erika Lee Bigelow