Two pumpkin patches in the Highlands have made a return this October despite a challenging year for Scottish farmers.
The Cawdor Pumpkin Patch in Nairn opened its gates on Sunday after a successful debut last year.
Meanwhile, the Loch Ness Pumpkin Patch at Corrimony Farm, which started in 2017, will welcome this year’s first visitors on Friday, October 18.
In addition to pumpkin picking, both patches offer a great range of activities for kids and their families as well as food and drink.
They told the P&J that 2024 has been an incredibly “tough” year for farming, as the lack of sun in the summer has badly affected the growing conditions.
Despite the difficulties, both local businesses have decided to reopen this October to give Highlanders another year of pumpkin fun.
Loch Ness Pumpkins: How a charity fundraiser became the Highlands’ first pumpkin patch
Owners of Corrimony Farm Barbara and David Girvan grew a pumpkin patch in 2017 as a fundraiser for Ronald McDonald House in Glasgow.
Barbara explained: “Our son had been very ill, and we used their services.
“We only grew a very small number in the first year, but the ticket sale just went mental, and then we raised over £3,000 for charity.
“So, we just carried on, but the organisation of all this is quite big scale, so we decided to do it properly and it has become part of the business and what we’re known for now.”
The parents-of-three, who met at a Young Farmers Club more than two decades ago, are now growing around 8,000 pumpkins compared to the 400 they had when they first opened.
Although Barbara explained they have fewer pumpkins than in previous years due to this year’s difficult growing conditions.
The £6 entry fee gives access to several fun activities such as archery, wee football pitch, arts and crafts and a train barrel ride.
“The train barrel seems to see the reason many people come for,” Barbara said.
Loch Ness Pumpkins will open its doors on Friday, October 18, and will welcome visitors for six days this month until Sunday, October 27.
Tickets can be purchased here.
Cawdor Pumpkin Patch returns despite owners considering cancellation
The Cawdor Pumpkin Patch has made a return this year after its increadibly successful debut in October 2023.
Farming couple Sibby Arkell-Glover and Philip Arkell moved up from England to the Highlands and “poured a lot of savings” into creating the patch.
But it has not been easy for them, as they had to deal with several days of torrential rain last year, which led to several cancellations.
And this year, they had to face “awful growing conditions” due to the lack of sunshine.
Sibby explained: “Farming has had a very tough year. The growing conditions were awful – the weather and particularly the lack of sunshine meant we didn’t get flowers until much too late.
“By August, we knew we were going to struggle with pumpkin numbers.”
Meanwhile, the couple welcomed their third child in June, so the mum-of-three admitted everything started to feel “a bit too much”.
“Back in August, my husband and I had a serious conversation about whether to go ahead – we very nearly pulled the plug on it,” she said.
However, she explained that in the end they “pressed on”.
“We made such a big effort last year and to not open would have been devastating – we dug deep and found some strength!
“The reason we started doing this in the first place was to give kids a space to run around and enjoy the great outdoors in the autumn.”
Cawdor Pumpkin Patch remains FREE entry
The patch has been moved from Cawdor Estate to the village and Sibby said that it is “bigger and better” than last year.
She explained: “This year we’ve got lots more going on – on top of the pumpkin picking we’ve got a play patch including a play bale trailer and a bale mountain as well as balance adventure play and traditional games.
“We’ve also got the bale run which was super popular last year and loads more photo opportunities – I’ve spent many hours painting new signs!! We have a woodland trail with a wordsearch which will be great fun.”
Sibby added that, after a lot of debate, they have decided to keep it free entry again for pumpkin picking.
Attendees at the patch can also enjoy a wide food and drink selection.
“We are serving organic Peruvian coffee, pumpkin spice lattes, gingerbread lattes and luxury hot chocolates as well as pumpkin soup and sausage rolls.”
They will also be serving cakes made at the popular local bakery Makes by Megs.
Tickets can be booked at: https://www.cawdorpatch.com/
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