Pumpkin Picking at The Pumpkin Patch at Bewholme

This is two sites rather than one, and knowing that before you set off saves a lot of confusion. Homeland Farm on Catfoss Road holds the Farm Displays and Pumpkin Shop, where entry and parking are free and the family build their pumpkin house and displays. The Pick Your Own field is a separate plot a short distance up the road, and that is where the £2 per person admission applies. Under 2s go free and there is no need to pre-book for either.

In the field you are picking from more than 45 varieties of pumpkins, gourds and squashes, so this is not just a sea of identical orange globes. There are warty ones, pale ones, flat French heirlooms and stacking gourds, and the family lay on pumpkin displays and photo spots between the rows. Carving happens in the field too, with carving kits sold from £1, so children can hollow one out on site instead of carrying it home to an ambitious evening with a kitchen knife.

The awkward part is dogs. Because the farm insures pumpkins as a food product for human consumption, no dogs or other pets are allowed on the Pick Your Own field at all. Assistance dogs are exempt. Parking at the field is on grass with a 5mph limit, so after a wet week both the car park and the rows will be soft underfoot.

The same family also runs strawberry and sunflower picking earlier in the year, which is why the farm feels like a working holding rather than a seasonal pop up. Bring wellies, bring cash for carving kits, and give yourself time to visit both the field and the displays.