Pumpkin Patch a fall tradition

Can you head from fall to winter without going to a pumpkin patch?  They offer an array of pumpkin choices! I can’t!  I have to stop. The pumpkin patch It is one of those things that makes the season like turkey on Thanksgiving, or chocolate on Valentine’s Day!  Some things just are!

A couple of weeks ago, the grandkids were out of school.  It was teacher’s institute day. and I had some time.  We headed out to the Apple Barn, a wonderful place in Chatham, Illinois.  The kids picked out a donut.  We posed for me with pumpkins.  We walked through a corn maze and  felt the beauty of fall.

Pumpkin patches are an amazing place!  When I see pumpkins grouped together, I always think of the Charlie Brown special.  That show reminds me of Linus and the “Great Pumpkin Patch”.  He always wonders if this year he will see the Great Pumpkin!

The pumpkin patch visit made me want to know how Jack-o-Lanterns came to be part of the Halloween tradition.  So, I checked it out.  I learned according to one site. that the Irish  brought the tradition of carving pumpkins into to America.  However, the original Jack O’Lantern was not a pumpkin, but rather a turnip!  In Ireland they placed embers in the turnip on All Hallow’s Eve to ward off evil spirits.

Yuck to turnips, but, I love the pumpkins.  Pumpkin patches offer several pumpkin choices.  There are often also beautiful gourds too.  I like pumpkins for their beauty, and of course, there is the pie!

Pumpkins, pecans, bread, roasted vegetables, turkey, mashed potatoes, all of these wonderful foods scream fall.  It brings thoughts of comfort food to me.

Fall is also a time for traditions.  My grand daughter asked me yesterday if we were going to have our cookout this year.  Back when my father was still living, he insisted on a cookout at our house every year.  As soon as Keith completed the fieldwork dad was ready.

It may have been a bit frosty, but we always managed to have a few haybales and some hotdogs and s’mores. These are magical memories with my late father.  Evidently, my granddaughter remembers and wants to continue her great-grandfather’s tradition.  While Keith may poo poo the idea to me, if my blonde haired- blue eyed grand daughter says, “Please Papa” it’s a done deal.

Maybe I should have her ask him about taking grandma on a trip to who knows.  He melts if she does the asking!

Traditions, colors, tastes and crisp cool air and that is what the pumpkin patch is and the feel of fall for me.

What is the feel of fall for you?  What makes this season one to remember in your book?