Pumpkin Picking

Now that Lucy is getting older, I'm having fun bringing her to all the family activities that seemed silly to drag a non-walking non-talking baby to. This past week we went pumpkin picking with our friends Mariel, Gabe and Nico. Since both Mariel and I are home with our kids right now, we went on a Tuesday morning, and boy, did we beat the crowds. We pulled up to Black's Heritage Farm, which according to Mariel, my research support, boasted a petting zoo, pony rides, hay rides, and a pumpkin patch. We pulled up (literally) to somebody's house. There were pumpkins, and a couple of small parking signs, but we were hesitant about just walking right in.

That's when we were greeted my Mr. Black himself, as though we were family friends. He took us to the petting zoo, pulled our kids up on the pony (who was tied to a picnic table before we arrived) for a ride around the lawn, and helped Lucy and Gabe up on the trolley to the pumpkin patch. Never mind he was a total stranger, as well as a bit rough around the edges, Lucy and Gabe took right to him.

Here we are on the pony rides. Gabe went first and was super excited the whole time. Mariel's family owned a ranch in Utah, so this was not the first time Gabe has been around or on a horse. Lucy seemed excited for her ride too, until she actually got onto the pony. Reality didn't quite live up to the hype for this experience, and she got off after half a lap around the yard.

For the kids, I'd say that the best part of the whole farm was the tee-pee: the ultimate playhouse. While Lucy and Gabe played in and around the tee-pee, we got to hear about Mr. Black's winter living homeless in a tent in a park. The story seemed to start out as a social experiment, like the "use a wheelchair to get around campus to see what it's actually like for someone" kind of project, but I've never heard of anyone who did that continuing to use a wheelchair for the rest of the year. Maybe we'll have to go back and ask some more questions. Anyway, the tee-pee was pretty well constructed, though like EVERYTHING else in Iowa, note the colors, totally driven by college sports. Go Cyclones!

And then to the trolley! There were both the trolley car and a hay cart that could be hooked up to the tractor to take us to the pumpkin patch, and we insisted that Mr. Black use whichever was easier for us. This shot doesn't really do the landscape justice, but Mariel and I were talking about how although the farm was less than 2 miles from the edge of town, you couldn't even tell you were anywhere near civilization. It was farmland as far as you could see.


The tractor rolled us around the field and stopped, not next to a pumpkin patch, but in the middle of a hay field. Apparently what they did was pick the pumpkins and then hide them in the hay, which was cute. We held the kids up high and they found a couple of pumpkins to bring back on the trolley.

We finished off our morning with some time with the baby ducks, and then running around the Black's front yard. I think the kids had a pretty good time, and now that I know what to expect, I would definitely go back. Next time, though, on a weekend.