growing pumpkins

At the end of June, Miss L went on an expedition to plant pumpkins thanks to Raley’s and their Farmer for a Day event at Vierra Farms in West Sacramento.

When we arrived, there was a tractor with a hay bale trailer waiting to take us out to the pumpkin patch. You know what that meant? HAY RIDE!!! And while that might be a staple of fall for most people, Vierra Farms hopped on that whole “fall is now” trend way before Starbucks did this year!

Dave, the official farmer, showed all the kids the pumpkin seeds, and explained how they grow. He broke them apart to show everyone what was inside, and then talked about how to grow them from seeds in your own yard.

Miss L dutifully planted her seed, then went back to the see bucket for more! I’m pretty certain there are about 4 pumpkin vines waiting for her right now…

We then went back to the farm house (and the shade) to enjoy a freshly packed lunch from Raley’s.

Miss L also indulged in all the activities available for the day: bubbles, hula hoops, and flavored water sampling. (If you must know, the cucumber water was her favorite!)

Raley’s was kind to share a goodie bag with everyone with a map of local farms, snacks, and sparklers!

And the end of the day, there was a raffle for all attendees, and Miss L had her eye on winning one of these nifty PlanetBox lunchboxes! Well, lo and behold, she was not only the first winning ticket called, but lucky enough to win this right out of the box! She’s pretty much the coolest kid at lunch now…or so she says!

As we left the farm that afternoon, Miss L asked me if we could buy some pumpkin seeds and plant them. AND if we could grow sunflowers as well.

And so we did… and everything is growing in the backyard now! In fact, if you’d like to learn how to grow your own pumpkin patch for this year or next… just check out my Momtastic post with details on exactly how to grown your own pumpkins!