The Pick-Your-Own Pumpkin Patch at Bert’s Barrow Farm in Hillam

National World - LocalTV

We popped along to the pick-your-own pumpkin patch at Bert's Barrow Farm in Hillam.

Transcript

00:00 I'm Jason, Jason Thompson, owner of Burt's Barrow in Hillam.

00:04 We're in a stud in the pumpkin patch.

00:06 - I'm Charlotte.

00:07 So I'm the other half to Jason.

00:11 So yeah, I'm the one that does all the social media

00:15 and makes it look tidy.

00:17 - We started about five years ago going 50.

00:20 And then we went to 500, then it was 3000,

00:24 and then up to 13,000.

00:26 Then last year it was 36,000.

00:28 And we ran out with a week to go, so we missed half term.

00:32 So we planted 60,000 this year.

00:34 About 15 different varieties.

00:35 So you've got bluey gray ones,

00:37 you've got your hot chocolate, your mellow yellow,

00:40 and then you've got your gaurds and squashes.

00:41 So you've got the bluey gray ones, the crown prince,

00:46 which is the best one to eat.

00:47 It's nice and sweet and orange inside.

00:50 Loads of choice for everybody.

00:52 - I'm the one that plants them with our team.

00:54 He sits on the tractor basically the whole time.

00:56 So I plant them and then I get on the weeder

00:59 and it's a machine that, it's on hydraulics,

01:02 so it opens up round the plant.

01:04 So say you've got your pumpkin there,

01:06 I'm sat on the machine here and it opens up.

01:08 So it's a spinny thing, opens up and goes round

01:11 to get rid of the weeds and the rubbish.

01:14 The busy time is September,

01:16 even though everybody thinks it's October,

01:17 but actually our hard work is September and the team.

01:21 They work really hard.

01:22 We've got five in total

01:23 and they've really worked hard this time, haven't they?

01:25 - Yeah, it's all, you wouldn't believe how much work

01:28 there is before actual now.

01:30 Do you know what I mean?

01:31 It's like the weeding, there's the planting of them,

01:34 there's a planting in the field of them,

01:35 they're putting seed in the trays.

01:37 It's all work that people don't see behind the scenes.

01:40 Do you know what I mean?

01:41 - But it's worth it.

01:42 - But it's worth it, yeah.

01:42 - 'Cause we've got our own

01:43 and we've got loads of different varieties this year

01:44 as well, haven't we?

01:45 - Yeah, and people enjoy it.

01:46 Do you know what I mean?

01:47 It's nice to see people coming back down to the farm

01:49 when they're picked to see the faces,

01:51 how smiley they are and what they've got in the barrows

01:53 and how much they've enjoyed it, do you know what I mean?

01:55 That's what it's all about.

01:57 We love seeing the smiley faces on them.

01:59 - The way we decide how much they are,

02:03 we use the sizing guides.

02:06 So then we put them in.

02:09 And then it, however big it is,

02:11 that's the price if it goes straight through the hole.

02:14 You can carve the pumpkins and you can paint the pumpkins

02:17 and this is so you don't have to do it at home

02:20 and make a mess.

02:21 - We are supporting the Dogs Trust

02:25 because I saw Owen Sharp on the TV last year.

02:29 Our aim is 550 pounds.

02:32 Owen spin the wheel.

02:33 - We're open Friday 12 till five,

02:36 Saturday and Sunday nine till four.

02:38 We've got the pumpkin patches open.

02:41 There's all the different photo opportunities

02:43 knocking about the place.

02:44 There's, we've got the activity bar

02:46 where you can paint them or carve them.

02:48 We've got face painter.

02:50 We've got a fairground ride, crepes,

02:53 bars open on a weekend, full job.

02:56 A lot of few local businesses with stalls.

02:58 So there's loads going on.

03:00 - Happy Halloween.

03:02 [BLANK_AUDIO]

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