If there’s one thing that can cheer us up about the end of summer (i.e. shorter days, colder nights), it is the incoming autumnal cosiness everywhere. The leaves are turning rusty red, burnt yellow and, of course, orange – and everything just feels wholesome. What better way to get into the autumnal mood than with these perfect pumpkin patches near Birmingham?
From carving jack-o’-lanterns for Halloween to baking a pretty pumpkin pie for Instagram, Pumpkin season is for everyone. Personally, we just make bucket loads of soup out of the distinct winter squash to warm us through winter. So this Harvest season, get down to your local pumpkin patch and pick the very best near Birmingham.
1. Essington Farm
Essington Farm in Wolverhampton has a 50-acre pick-your-own site growing about 30 different crops. Open every day until October 29, Essington Farm is ready to welcome back guests for their PYO Pumpkin season, with an unbelievable amount of pumpkins of different varieties planted (including pink, yellow, white and grey pumpkins) so there should be plenty available to pick this year.
The patch is pretty spectacular, too, with a variety of sizes (starting from the size of a grapefruit) and not forgetting their gruesome knobbly variety called “goose bumps”. Guests will be able to pick their perfect pumpkins which are priced from £2 to around £12 for the largest. Tickets are strictly limited and cost £2.50 for three years and under entering for free. The farm shop also offers other fruit and veg, eggs, preserves and bread and there’s also a butchery and deli, plus Country Kitchen Restaurant.
Bognop Road, Essington, Wolverhampton, WV11 2AZ
2. Hatton Adventure World
Hatton Adventure World‘s Halloween Spooktacular will run weekends from October 14, then from October 28 to 31. Adding pumpkin picking to their already fun list of activities, guests will be able to grab a wheelbarrow and pick their perfect pumpkin, before creating a cool carving from it.
The event will also have a haunted house, roaming spooky actors and performers in the ‘Zombie Marsh’ and much more! Plus older children and adults will love shooting zombies in their Laser Combat arena. There are also a range of food and drink outlets available and you can warm up with a mug of hot chocolate at one of these. Hatton will once again be awash with ghosts, ghouls, cobwebs and pumpkins this Halloween.
Hatton Adventure World, Dark Lane, Hatton, Warwick, Warwickshire, CV35 8XA
3. Pumpkins R Us
Pumpkins R Us in Stoneleigh Park is offering Pick Your Own where you can walk around and choose your own pumpkin from 25 different varieties from October 7. Choose from a range of pumpkins in their pumpkin patches ranging in every size, colour, pattern and shape you can imagine. Once you’ve picked your pumpkin, you can enter their spooky shop or have some fun on the fairground.
If you’re feeling famished after wading through the pumpkin patches, you can tuck into a tasty treat in their on-site café. After last year’s popularity, after-dark pumpkin picking will be returning this year too. Expect plenty of spooky surprises!
Dallas Burston Polo Club, Southam CV47 2DL
4. Manor Farm Fruits
Pumpkin Fest is back at Manor Farm Fruits! Growing a wide variety of pumpkins, squashes and gourdes of all shapes, sizes and colours, there are over 150 different varieties of pumpkins this year! You won’t be disappointed by this pre-picked collection. Visitors will also enjoy spooky storytelling in the tipi, while resident Scarecrows Strawbs and Pippin will roam the farm for a fright too. Pumpkin Fest is open on October 7, 8, 13 to 15, 20 to 22 and 27 to 31. with tickets costing £5 per person.
For the first time ever, you can join Pumpkin Fest at night. From 5pm to 8pm, the farm will take on an eery atmosphere as you pick the perfect pumpkin (watch out for the ancestors of the Manor Farmhouse as they try to sneak up on you!) Pumpkin Fest by Night takes place on October 14 & 15, 20 & 21, and 27 to 31, with tickets £10 per person.
Watling Street, Hints, Tamworth, B78 3DF
5. Lower Drayton Farm
Lower Drayton Farm is one of Stafford’s best pumpkin patches for families. It’s possibly one of the biggest too, with over 80,000 pumpkin seeds of various varieties over 12 acres. Not only do you get to hunt around for a pumpkin you can visit the animals there too! Throughout October, guests can trundle on down to the pumpkin patch with a wheelbarrow.
Before choosing one and heading to the carving tent to carve a perfect pumpkin creation. There will also be a pumpkin photo booth where you can take a selfie of your creations and win a prize! There will be hot food including hot dogs and homemade pumpkin soup. The patch is open every weekend from September 30 and every day from October 14 until 31.
Lower Drayton Lane, Penkridge, Stafford, ST19 5RE
6. Canalside Farm
There are a number of Pick Your Own Pumpkin experiences at Canalside Farm throughout October. A bumper crop includes some interesting new varieties in all shapes and sizes, with some funny names like Mashed Potato, Polar Bear and Goosebumps. You’ll have to ask when you get there about the names! On top of the pumpkin patch, you’ll find a Maize Maze, with a Witches & Wizards School and a silent disco, plus plenty of other family games.
Tickets cost £4 per person for entry to all of the attractions, while pumpkins are charged by weight at the end. This year there will also be firepits available for marshmallow toasting! If you want to make your pumpkin a little more intimidating this year. Check out the late-night Pumpkin Picking Experiences on October 14, 20 & 27, which must be the scariest in the West Midlands.
Mill Lane, Great Haywood, Staffordshire, ST18 0RQ
7. Lower Clopton Farm
Lower Clopton Farm is keen to remind us that “pumpkins are a vegetable and are delicious to eat!” So while many are on the lookout for the perfect pumpkin for carving into a jack-o’-lantern at Halloween. You might also want to consider grabbing a handful more to make some unique dishes this October. (An uncarved pumpkin with the stalk intact will last for 1-2 months.) Returning on October 7, 14, 21 and 22, 26 to 29, and 31, PYO Pumpkins for £1 per person at Lower Clopton Farm, with prices from 50p to £10 depending on size.
Lower Clopton, Upper Quinton, Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, CV37 8LQ
8. National Forest Adventure Farm
Join in on pumpkin picking on October 14, 15, 21 and 22, and then from October 28 to November 3. Spooktacular! at National Forest Adventure Farm lets your little ones pick out your perfect pumpkin in the Farm’s very own pumpkin patch! It’s not the only Halloween-themed activities going on, however. There are also plenty of spooky shows, mega slides, funfair rides, animals to meet and much more on your visit.
Postern Road, Tatenhill, Burton upon Trent, Staffordshire, DE13 9SJ
If you can’t find the perfect pumpkin among these acres and acres of patches, then we don’t know where you will. These pumpkin patches near Birmingham have every kind you can imagine, ideal for either aesthetic pictures or flavoursome foods and everything in between. With Halloween creeping our way, check them out before the Harvest season ends. (It’s almost Christmas after all!)