pumpkin picking – the joy of five

Children, Families, Family Life, Farms, halloween, Kids Days Out, Large Families, Memories, Photography, Surrey

Pumpkin Picking With Picking Patch

October 9, 2022October 9, 2022by thejoyoffive2 Comments

Over the years Halloween in the UK has got bigger and better than ever, and I am most certainly here for it! Decorating the house, ‘trick or treating’ and probably my favourite activity of them all – pumpkin picking.

We normally have to head a little further afield for this, so I was over the moon when we were asked to visit Picking Patch’s new site in Warlingham, Surrey.

As we arrived in the field we were greeted with a sky full of orange flags wavering in the breeze, lines of wheelbarrows all smartly stacked and ready for use and a band of happy helpers that were there to let you know exactly what was going on and the best way to plan your day. The pumpkin patch is completely free to enter and once you have selected your favourites – they have an impressive twenty varieties to choose from! you can the head to the pricing boxes to see what you need to pay and finally finish things up at the till.

The boys loved being able to push the wheelbarrow through the fields and spent a good while selecting their favourites.

The fun didn’t stop there for us as we were booked onto the Halloween Maize Maze. We followed the story of the Feather Family, joined them for a selfie or two, sat down for a spooky dinner, left our spells on the haunted tree and whiled our way through the apothecary only getting lost once!

We ended the day with a bite to eat. There is a van serving hot food and drinks and an ice cream van if you are looking for a sweet treat.

We had an amazing morning and if you fancy seeing a little more then head over to Instagram or book your places HERE.

Allergy Free, Children, Families, Family Life, Large Families, Memories

Celebrating The Small Things:Forty Three

November 5, 2018November 13, 2018by thejoyoffiveLeave a Comment

This week I’m talking about our fun packed half term and some of the moments that I have loved the most.

Sunday Funday – My husband works long and erratic hours and family time is always very limited. We usually manange to spend a Sunday together, although sometimes this doesn’t even come to fruition.

We were invited along to an absolutely amazing event at Legoland by Warner Bros last weekend that was something the boys could only have dreamed of, but for me a big part of the fun was to simply spend some time together.

Pumpkin Picking – Yes I am that stereotypical blogger that loves nothing more than taking hundreds of photos in the middle of a pumpkin patch each and every October; but aside from being the perfect backdrop for some insta worthy photos I love the kids running free, getting excited by their finds and enjoying all that open space.

Baking – I used to bake a lot with the children and for some reason this had dwindled and it’s something the children have really missed, so we cooked up a batch of allergy friendly banana muffins.

Frankie loves it when we bake something that he can enjoy and to be honest I was pretty grateful that he enjoyed the making as the end results were pretty dreadful!

Children, Families, Family Life, Farms, Garden Centres, Holidays, Kids Days Out, Large Families, Memories, Outdoor Play, Parents, Surrey

Pumpkin Picking At Secretts Of Milford

October 24, 2018October 25, 2018by thejoyoffiveLeave a Comment

I had a mini meltdown the other day as I had missed our annual day out pumpkin picking at Priory Farm. It is one of our favourite things to do at this time of year and so I went on the hunt for somewhere else we could visit.

I stumbled across Secretts Of Milford and thought that it would make the perfect place to explore this half term.

After a short drive we arrived at the garden centre to a pretty packed carpark which I was a little apprehensive about but I needn’t have worried as after a short while queuing we made our way into the event field that was full of things to do from face painting to fairground rides, tractor rides and a favourite for mine – corn blasting!

We headed straight to the tractor ride that lead us into the jam packed pumpkin fields, full of pumpkins of all different shapes, sizes and colours. The children didn’t know where to look first and spent ages racing through the fields and selecting their perfect pumpkin.

We hopped back on the tractor and grabbed a bite to eat which was very fitting with the theme with hot dogs, pumpkin soup, pumpkin curry and pumpkin cake. There was plenty on indoor and outdoor space to sit and relax while the children enjoy the freedom of the open space and even a hay fight or two!

Secretts made for an amazing day out and we will certainly be back to visit next year!

Cafes, Cakes, Children, Families, Family Life, Farms, Food, Garden Centres, Kids Days Out, Large Families, Memories, Nutfield, Outdoor Play, Parks, Photography, Priory Farm, Reigate, Surrey

Saying Hello To Autumn At Priory Farm

October 8, 2017October 14, 2017by thejoyoffive10 Comments

A chill in the wind, beautiful rich colours, Halloween and cosy afternoons snuggled up under warm blankets are just a few of the reason I absolutely love October.

The weather hasn’t yet changed to the bitterness of winter and getting out into the great outdoors is a real pleasure.

The first adventure for us is always a trip to Priory Farm to select the perfect pumpkin for carving and eating if I ever get round to trying pumpkin pie…I have been promising the children this for the past goodness knows how long!

I have written about Priory Farm countless times as it has so much to offer from fantastic play areas to a brilliant discovery walk and they always go that extra mile for special occasions such as this.

Today we climbed aboard the truck that was decked out perfectly for Halloween with missing limbs, cobwebs and huge spiders.

The short journey lead us straight to the pumpkin field which the children couldn’t wait to get to and select their favourite pumpkin, which for the first year ever wasn’t a competition to see who’s was the biggest.

A good few laps of the field and more than a few pumpkins picked and rejected we finally had our favourites and headed back to the kiosk where there was a game of ‘roll the pumpkin’ and hoopla onto creepy arms to keep the children amused while we waited for our ride back.

Prized pumpkins in hand we climbed aboard and headed off to get a well earned piece of scrummy cake and a good coffee.

There is so much going on over the next few weeks at Priory Farm as well as the pumpkin picking and a visit come highly recommend from us!

Children, Families, Family Life, Farms, Kids Days Out

Halloween Has Started:Priory Farm Pumpkin Picking

October 9, 2016October 9, 2016by thejoyoffive18 Comments

The days are getting colder, evenings are drawing in and one of my favourite times of year is nearly upon us…Halloween!

I’m a huge kid at this time of year and love all of the preparation for it, the most exciting part being picking our own pumpkins.

This is only a tradition we have started over the past few years but it is always such a lovely thing to do as a family and far more fun than just picking one up from the supermarket.

Last year we missed the picking at one of our favourite places – Priory farm in Nutfield and just took park in the spooky discovery walk which is also a great activity for Halloween.

Priory offer more than just a field to pick from, you climb aboard the spooky tractor and take a short ride to the field which allows for a smaller number of people than most places to pick. This made it feel much more relaxed.

Once we got to the field the kids made a beeline to find the perfect or actually biggest pumpkin!

I got so excited about a good photo opportunity but the kids really weren’t feeling it today. They were way to excited to be posing for me unfortunatly.

Pumpkins sized and paid for we all piled back on the tractor and stopped off in the coffee shop for big hot chocolates and a run around in the playground.

Priory Farm is a fabulous day out with so much to do aside from the pumpkin picking which will be running again next weekend if you fancy a trip.

Children, Families, Family Life, Farms, Garden Centres, Kids Days Out, Outdoor Play, Photography, Surrey

We Made It To The Pumpkin Fields

October 26, 2015November 9, 2015by thejoyoffive1 Comment

By the end of this week you will all be fed up with my feed as this is one of my favourite times of the year and I try to cram as many Halloween related trips into the half term as I can!

If you have read my previous post on Priory Farm you will know that I had got the wrong day for picking so on Sunday we headed to Garsons Farm in Esher to pick out our favourite pumpkins.

After several split and misshapen pumpkins were selected by the kids and then rejected by me we got one that was just perfect.

It’s so much fun to be able to show the children how they are grown and cost no one than buying one from your local supermarket.

We popped over to the other field and got ourselves some juicy sweetcorn which is something that none of us had ever picked before.

As well as the pumpkins and corn Garsons has a huge selection of other things to pick from apples to marrows and even strawberries!

Once you are done with your picking you can take a look around the huge garden centre and coffee shop or pick yourself up some scrummy food in the well stocked farm shop. The cheese straws from the bakery section come highly recommended from us.

This week if you chose to visit you might be able to spot the Pumpkin Fairy flying around whist your there!