Seasonal farm events are becoming an increasingly important source of income, says Phil Le Maistre after the success of the Pumpkin Patch days out at Master Farms.
“It’s the fifth or sixth year we’ve done it. It seems to be getting more popular every year,” the Grouville grower said.
“We grow pumpkins on about eight vergées. You get a lot of pumpkins from a relatively small area. We used to grow a lot of courgettes for export that were planted after the potato crop, but we had to stop doing that because we couldn’t compete. The pumpkins took over from the courgettes.”
As well as the Halloween events, Master Farms ran a sunflower one in the summer and has organised dig-your-own-potatoes days.
The extra revenue was a welcome boost after the past 12 months, Phil explained.
“It has been one of the most challenging years we’ve had, with the dry weather and the escalating cost of fuel, fertiliser and freight.
“This is the first time that we’ve had to water the pumpkins three or four times over the summer.”
Phil adds: “In addition to the extra revenue, the biggest benefit is getting people onto the farm. At the dig-your-own day we had people using little hand diggers. We had all these kids having a great time picking up potatoes and asking questions about the farm.
“It is really important to do that kind of thing.”
This year’s Pumpkin Patch event saw visitors navigating their way through a maze of maize to reach the pumpkin patch. There they found pumpkins of all shapes and sizes to choose from ready for carving, painting, decorating or cooking.
