Pumpkin Picking at Hitchin Lavender

The lavender rows are long finished by October. Cadwell Farm closes for the summer season and then opens again purely for the pumpkin patch, which gives the place a different character to a farm park: a working field, dozens of different types of pumpkin and squash grown on site, and not much else competing for your attention.

Picking is done by hand. You walk out into the main field, work along to the right-hand side where the patch sits, choose what you want and pay for it at the till. Entry and pumpkins are charged separately, so the ticket buys you into the field and the pumpkin itself is extra, typically from as little as £2.50. A Halloween Barn sits alongside the patch.

Tickets go by arrival time rather than a single opening hour. There is a morning session admitting between 10am and midday, a 12 to 2 session, and a Flexi Ticket if you would rather not commit to a slot.

The Old Barn Lavender Teahouse, the play area and the museum are all free to visit, because the entrance fee applies only to the main field. Anyone happier sitting down with a coffee while the rest of the family walks the rows does not need to pay at all. Parking is free, and dogs are welcome anywhere on the farm as long as they are on a lead and you clear up after them.

It is a short outing rather than a full day, an hour or two at most, which suits a morning with small children or a stop on the way somewhere else.