Pumpkin Patch Adventuring

Happy Halloween, everyone!

October is my favorite. It’s my wedding month, the weather is amazing, pumpkin patches are a thing. And I’m super proud to say I’m indoctrinating my kids in to my love of this orange month. Harrison announced, the third week of September, that we, “need to go to 7 pumpkin patches this year.”

NEED.

Game on, kid. Let’s do this.

Patch #1: Bishop’s Pumpkin Farm – Wheatland, CA

Bishop’s is literally the holy grail of pumpkin patches. It’s the type of popular that you avoid going to on a weekend. We went on opening day in the middle of the week and it was lovely. Not crowded and beautiful weather. If you’re local, I have some hacks for you:

1. Go during the week. Like I said before, it’s way less crowded, parking is free and it’s a great outing for a play date or meet up.
2. Get the kid souvenir cup and bring it back with you (if you plan on multiple visits!) for $0.50 refills.
3. Unless your kid is an absolute animal lover, skip the petting zoo.
4. It is possible to do Bishop’s for free! Go on a week day and there is a whole play area including tire obstacles, slides, tree house, a hay jump, and a kid’s sized old western town that keeps my kids occupied for HOURS. It’s amazing.

We love it and I’m sad we won’t be able to go back until next year.

Patch #2: Braehead Farm – Fredericksburg, VA

While we were in Virginia, we went to a little farm that my SIL frequents with her littles. It was adorable. Tons of open space for kids to run, places to sit for the parentals and homemade baked goods and snacks that were phenomenal.

Patch #3: The Pumpkin Farm – Citrus Heights, CA

We went here on a weekend which… is never my first choice. Obviously, it was pretty busy and crowded and ya know, lines are hard for kids. The things I loved about this one was it truly seemed to be family owned. There was “face painting” and I’m pretty sure the girl who painted Harrison’s face was maybe 2 years older than him. Overall, good not great experience.

Patch #4: Rickey Ranch Pumpkin Patch – Granite Bay, CA

This was a suuuper cute, small patch. There are animals, a hay ride that takes you to the back of the property where they have a legit pirate ship (Sullivan was so excited) and pony rides.

Patch #5: Flower Farm – Loomis, CA

We had company at this patch! Really, it’s just a bunch of pumpkins put out on their lot but it counts! Flower Farm is also a delicious restaurant and winery. They had activities throughout their property including a sandbox and a path of “pumpkin people” but the kids had the most fun chasing the “funny looking” chickens.

Patch #6: Zittel Farms – Folsom, CA

We decided to head out to Folsom to visit Tyler at one of his stores and wanted to hit up a patch while we were there. This is literally the only one within a 20 mile radius. It was nothing special and we were barely there for 20 minutes. But it counts!

Patch #7: Bishop’s Pumpkin Farm – Wheatland, CA

We had to go back. 1. We still had tickets to burn and 2. It really is just the best. So much for the kids to do, actually good food and so close to us. Tyler says it only counts as six and a half pumpkin patches but my argument is this: we had to physically get to 7 different places so dammit, this counts as 7.

There you have it! Seven pumpkin patches in 2017. Here’s to 8 in 2018? We shall see!