our nature group went to the real deal pumpkin patch last week. i say real deal because that's what it was. there were no rides, no face painting, no games. just a field of pumpkins most still on their vines and a few farm animals. my kiddo's loved it. we have actually visited this pumpkin patch for the last few years. the pumpkins are usually nice in size and are plentiful, but this year they lost their first crop (too much rain). they planted a second crop which we got to choose from, but most of the pumpkins were small or were not ready to be picked. however, my kiddo's had no problem finding a pumpkin or having fun. take a look...
pretty much first thing my girl found her pumpkin
(see tiny, but manageable for little kiddo's)
a pumpkin flower and the start of a new pumpkin
did you know that these beetles are pumpkin pollinators? we read it in a book about pumpkin farms. i always thought that beetles were bad, apparently not in this case.
the beautiful yellow pumpkin flower is all dried up, but there is now a beautiful orange pumpkin.
my little fella found a pumpkin just his size too
i found my girl gathering these seeds (from weeds), she wanted to take them home to plant them. i didn't have the heart to tell her we don't want to plant seeds from weeds. i suppose it could have been a good learning opportunity, but she was just too excited about them. i couldn't do it. so, while she gathered seeds i decided to explore a little too and take some photos.
i found wheel barrows
and clay pots.
then, i stumbled onto these two
and we saw a real farm tractor drive by
it was awesome!
when it was time to go i even found the best pumpkin in the patch. i'll take that one in the yellow shirt!
