Blogtober 2023 : Day 22
Hello, hello, I hope you’re having a lovely Sunday! It’s chilly here but the sky is blue and the sun is shining, so that’s definitely something to be grateful for!
I’m also grateful for our conversations – thanks for all your comments on my recent Blogtober posts, I’ve had a lovely time reading them this morning and I’m hoping that I’ve managed to reply to them all – my apologies if I’ve missed any, but I have read them!
I’ve got lots of pumpkin photos to show you today, because it’s that time of year. I went to nearby Kenyon Hall Farm to meet a friend for a brew last week and as I arrived in the car park, I remembered that we’d met up for a brew at the same time last year (although maybe a week later as we were smack in the middle of half term last year and it was soooo busy!). We had a lovely time catching up over a brew and a piece of cake (I had a piece of mint chocolate Aero brownie and it was delicious – no photos as I don’t think it touched the sides! 🙂 ), and then I took a quick wander through the large polytunnel next to the cafe to see the pumpkin displays.
They do put on a good pumpkin display at Kenyon Hall! It must have taken ages to set the polytunnel up with all of these pumpkins and plants (not least because the pumpkins look very clean so have probably had a wash!) …
Hallowe’en is such a big thing these days, isn’t it? Every year I write about the hollowed out swedes that my brother and I used to carve (there’s nothing like the smell of singed swede 🙂 ) and we used to bob for apples but that was about it. Nobody decorated their houses, there was maybe a party if a parent want to go to the effort of putting one on and there was never trick or treating to the extent that there is now. It’s very different nowadays and Hallowe’en is big business – although in our local supermarket it’s definitely been pushed out of the way by Christmas this year – and I can see how it’s so much more exciting than it was when I was little! I’ve also seen quite a few more “pumpkin patches” as I’ve been driving around lately and if that’s another way for farmers to diversify in difficult times then I’m all for Hallowe’en progress 🙂
Inside the polytunnel, there were more pumpkins, squashes and gourds than you could shake a stick at. I spotted the super-cute Munchkin pumpkins straight away …
but look at all of these too!
These last ones are a bit creepy-looking, aren’t they? I had no idea there were so many different varieties, and there were plenty of people heading to the checkout with wheelbarrows (instead of shopping trolleys) full of pumpkins of all shapes and sizes.
I mentioned the little Munchkin pumpkins the other day when I spotted them at the supermarket and said that I hadn’t bought any as I didn’t know what I’d do with them (other than use them for decoration). Jennifer suggested in the comments using them for pumpkin pie, bread and muffins but I’ve got to be honest, the only time I ever had pumpkin pie, I wasn’t immediately bowled over by it. I wonder if it’s because pumpkins are relatively new to the UK (I’m suggesting that twenty years or so is relatively new here!) and it’s not something that many of us have been brought up eating – although it’s easy enough to buy pumpkin-spiced drinks at this time of year so it’s likely me that’s not bowled over by the taste of pumpkin and not everybody else! 🙂
As I headed out of the polytunnel, I passed the biggest display of all …
That’s a LOT of pumpkins to choose from and you’d be hard-pushed not to find one that would be perfect for carving from that selection. My girls still haven’t decided whether they’ve grown out of the idea yet so I resisted the temptation to buy anything just in case, and headed home.
My friend and I thought it was very funny that we’d completely forgotten that we’d met up at this time last year – I wonder if we’ll do the same next year?!
I don’t like the taste of pumpkin either. We always celebrated Guy Fawkes night rather than Halloween.
Yes, we tended to do that more too, I think 🙂 xx
It definitely wasn’t as popular in days gone by (which makes me sound about 104!) 🙂 xx
I lived in America for many years and pumpkin pie always left me cold – but anything your can do with Butternut Squash – soup, baking etc you can do with almost all those squashes too – that is all they are – just very pretty squashes.
A brilliant display and it must have taken hours.
Christmas has overtaken all our loal Farm shops and garden Centres – I would personally like to ban all displays for Christmas until the 1st December – I wonder how many people would agree. We used to get so excited about Advent, lighting a candle every Sunday and opening little doors on a calender that just had little pictures inside – no presents in those days (we moved to Switzerland when I was 9 so we adopted some of their celebrations). We even had St Nicholas and his Chimney Sweep visit us in School and had to recite poems for him – if we were good we got a tangerine – if not a lump of coal from the Sweep.
Those were the days. And we never celebrated Halloween at all – unless you count your father telling scary ghost stories.
My first Advent calendar was only pictures too, and you can still buy those but I know I’d be disappointed now if I had one and everyone else had treats in theirs! You’ve certainly lived all over the place, what an exciting life you must have had! xx
My dad used to carve a swede out for me as a child ( or a turnip as we called it ) and oh the excitement to smell it cooking as the candle burned down. It was a pretty tough job, I tried to do it once for my own children. We did apple bobbing too and bit into apples. tied on strings to the washing line. The next day, we always looked in the garden for bits of broomstick or scraps of black fabric torn from a witch’s dress. It was all a quiet affair though, nothing like today.
That sounds pretty much like our rather uneventful Hallowe’ens. No parties, no trick or treating, and I think I used to look forward to Bonfire Night more because there was more going on! 🙂 xx
Love all the photos of pumpkins. As a child we never celebrated Halloween, we did Bonfire Night with sparklers and hotdogs. Aunty always made Bonfire Toffee too. Happy Childhood Memories. Love your blogs and you have taught me how to Knit socks. LOVE knitting socks. Thankyou and God Bless xxx
We never particularly did much on Hallowe’en either, other than the swede excavations 🙂 I am so pleased that I’ve been able to help you with knitting socks, that’s brilliant to hear! 🙂 xx
Oooh, the smell of burning swede, that’s brought back memories! That’s about as far as our participation went many years ago.
Apart from the three of us scaring ourselves silly with ghost stories, that was as far as it went.
Our local garden centre had its Christmas display up and running on August Bank Holiday 😵💫. I have to say I hate all the over-commercialisation.
It’s a very particular smell, isn’t it? Definitely one to conjure up cold, dark nights! Ooh, I can see why shops are starting early this year but think August bank holiday is a bit too early! xx