Photo courtesy of Gina Napoli
Picking your own pumpkin at a local patch is a childhood memory-maker, and the best kind of family scavenger hunt.
Nothing feels more like autumn to me than an afternoon field trip hunting for that perfect pumpkin, hidden among their shady peek-a-boo leaves. I remember the pumpkin patches of my childhood as an entirely wholesome experience, with farms offering hayrides, coloring pages with orange and green crayons, obstacle courses, train and tractor rides, and peep-board photo ops. A dixie cup of apple cider and popcorn in a brown lunch bag rounded out each trip.
Local pumpkin farms have upgraded this field trip since I was a kid, becoming autumn destinations offering trendy attractions. Some choice local pumpkin farms have enough activities for kids to fill an entire afternoon, and then return another day to do them again.
Mt. Airy Orchards, owned by Dan and Karen Paulus, has been operational in Dillsburg for several decades. They offer the typical farm activities kids expect to find, plus a huge jumping pillow, a mega slide and a corn maze—proof that there are other fruits and vegetables to get excited about too.
Patchwork Pumpkin Farm in Grantville also offers a host of fall activities, with many revolving around the season’s orange gourd. In addition to traditional pumpkin carving, proprietors Patrick and Kristy Mitchell set up a “de-crafting” station for smashing pumpkins. A bulk order of Patchwork’s pumpkins even appeared at a World Wrestling Entertainment event in Hershey last year. I’m not usually one to start a food fight, but smashing a pumpkin and yelling my boss’s (editor’s?) name sounds like cool stress relief.
You would think that smashing so many pumpkins, splattering and scattering seeds thither and thus, would propagate pumpkin plants for next year. But our farmers are much more intentional than that.
Although pumpkins are a 100-day crop, Patrick Mitchell assured me “the list of farm chores stretches year-round.”
To enrich the soil and help control weeds, farmers plant a cover crop during spring. You can plant pumpkins in full sun because they provide their own shade. Farmers sow seeds in the summer, continually watering, fertilizing and praying for good weather. When it’s too cold for any crops, it’s time to research new seed varieties and pest control.
So much goes into cultivating the perfect pumpkin.
Karen Paulus said, “An ideal pumpkin has good color, sturdy, has a great stem, and stands up well.”
Patrick added that one should look for a pumpkin that “feels heavy for its size, has unmarked skin, no soft spots, and has a strong, green handle, free from blemishes.”
Into the Oven
What to do with your pumpkins after your homeowner’s association sends you a nastygram to remove all gourds from your porch? Pumpkin pie is the logical answer, but I don’t quite have an heirloom family recipe I trust.
As far back as I can remember, after every Farmers Fair parade, we would drive from downtown Dillsburg to the top of my grandparents’ mountain, just to have a slice of my grandmother’s locally legendary pumpkin pie. Her “secret” recipe calls for boiling the fleshy neck of the pumpkin only, yielding filling so smooth that you would think it was pudding. Nanny always cooked from scratch, still wastes nothing, and one day I will ask her what she did with the other parts of the pumpkin.
But today, I’m throwing shade at my grandmother. My cousin Patty once caught Nanny at the grocery store the week prior to Farmers Fair, buying a stack of frozen pie crusts. Patty charged each family member 50 cents to learn this secret, and made almost $9 that day. Do I suspect Nanny’s pie filling maybe had Libby’s on the label? You bet I have trust issues.
Karen Paulus, a trustworthy surname synonymous with local farming, shares some of her favorite pumpkin recipes, like pie, cookies and cheesecake, on Mt. Airy Orchards’ website.
If you don’t feel like boiling your own pumpkin flesh to make these goodies, you can visit their bake shop. There’s even pumpkin ice cream. If you try to pass Paulus’ homemade goodies off as your own at the family potluck, I’ll keep your secret for 50 cents.
I don’t bake much. But after carving my pumpkin, I rinse, dry, season and roast the seeds on low heat. Not a secret family recipe, and not a technique worthy of Mrs. Rosemary Ruggieri Baer’s column, but still a fall family favorite.
Smashing in a different way, Kristy Mitchell has assisted guests with marriage proposals, writing, “Will you marry me?” on a pumpkin that the girlfriend just happened to find. The agritourism setting makes a Patchwork Pumpkin proposal an ideal photo op.
“I guess you could say we help to create new families,” Patrick said.
A pumpkin patch is a perfect destination to bring your own family. Pro tip… whether a pumpkin is considered a fruit or a vegetable, don’t tell your kids they’re healthy, or they’ll stay in the corn maze all day and won’t help you look for one.
Pumpkin Patchwork Farm is located at 311 S. Faith Rd., Grantville. For more information, visit www.patchworkpumpkinfarm.com.
Mt. Airy Orchards is located at 522 E. Mount Airy Rd., Dillsburg. For more information and pumpkin recipes, visit www.mtairyorchards.com/fall/pumpkin-patch.
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