Pumpkin Picking at Pickwell Farm

Autumn is my favourite season and in the hope of cooking up some traditional autumnal meals, I went along to Pickwell Farm in Southampton to get some fresh, local produce to include in my autumn favourites and for a spot of pumpkin picking!

Having recently thought a lot about trying to eat both seasonally, I went along to Pickwells where they grow fresh produce right on my doorstep, which I’ve found to be more fresh and flavoursome than supermarket counterparts. Pickwell farm and shop in Southampton is home to a range of seasonal crops spreading many acres.

This week they had pumpkins, rhubarb, sweetcorn, blackberries and the last of this season’s strawberries available for pick-your-own.

 

There’s something really fun and special about picking your own crops. Walking up and down the rows of sweetcorn looking for large, juicy ears of gorgeous yellow sweetcorn and weighing up what size pumpkin you can carry back! We took our friends the Cross family pumpkin picking and found that the little-ones loved getting a bit muddy and back to nature, finding out where and how fresh fruit and vegetables are grown and waving at the tractors. It makes for the perfect afternoon out.

Pick-your-own is definitely something I’ll be doing again. There’s something special about being able to cook something which was in the ground only a few hours before. The farm shop also contains a wealth of vegetables, fruits, jams, chutneys, cheeses and eggs to pick up at reasonable prices, so is well worth browsing whilst you are there.

Despite the rain we loved our visit to the farm and definitely can’t wait to go back in the summer to pick fresh strawberries! We came home with our self-picked corn, a selection of cute baby squashes, some cooking apples for a classic crumble and, of course, a pumpkin! Keep your eye out for some autumn recipes coming up on the blog over the next couple of weeks!