With visitors travelling from across Sussex and beyond, Lychpole Farm, where the patch is based, is fast becoming a must-visit location in families’ autumn calendars.
Whether it is to buy a pumpkin for carving, to get some pretty pictures for Instagram or to pick the perfect squash for a spot of cooking, Sompting Pumpkins offers something for everyone.
Caroline Harriott and her husband David have been tenant farmers at Lychpole for 18 years, but have been growing pumpkins there for five.
Around 70,000 seeds are planted in the first week of June, to ensure the pumpkins are ready for October.
Caroline said the patch has become incredibly popular since it was started, and each year they welcome thousands of people up to the farm.
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"Some people come to get the biggest pumpkin they can find, some come to find the prettiest pumpkin they can, while others come to get the tastiest one to use in their cooking,” Caroline said.
"We get a huge range of ages, from babies to grandparents bringing their grandchildren.”
As well as picking pumpkins of all shapes and sizes, children will be able to take part in craft activities in the marquee, and there will be food and drink offerings with a pumpkin twist – with pumpkin lattes and pumpkin ice cream on sale.
Caroline is also keen to pass on the farming story to guests, and explain the importance of sustainable farming.
Everything grown on Lychpole Farm is either fed back to the animals they farm, sold or given to charities like Worthing Soup Kitchen.
"Nothing is wasted,” Caroline said. “There is a bit of a disconnect for people understanding the importance of buying local, sometimes, and it’s good to be able to talk to them about that when they’re up here.
"Buy buying from local farms, you’re helping the environment and stopping a huge carbon footprint of buying produce imported from abroad.”
For anybody not sure on how best to use their pumpkins for cooking, Caroline has plenty of recipe tips and there will be recipe cards customers can collect on the site.
One of her favourite dishes comes from roasting a spaghetti squash, while she also recommends the nutty flavours of the crown prince squash.
Trailer rides around the farm site will also be on offer, with the money collected going to Chestnut Tree House.
Entry to Sompting Pumpkins and parking on the site is free.
Sompting Pumpkins opens this Saturday and Sunday, October 8 and 9, from 9.30am to 4pm.
It then opens again at the same times on Saturday and Sunday October 15 and 16. Then it is open for half term – October 22 to 30 – also from 9.30am to 4pm.
For more information on Sompting Pumpkins, see https://somptingpumpkins.co.uk/
1. Sompting Pumpkins
Caroline Harriott is the farmer at Lychpole Farm, where Sompting Pumpkins is getting ready to open again this weekend Photo: Katherine HM
2. Sompting Pumpkins
There is a huge array of pumpkins you can pick, of all different shapes, sizes and colours Photo: Katherine HM
3. Sompting Pumpkins
Katherine, from our Sussexworld team, was given a sneak peak around the farm before it opens to the public this weekend Photo: Katherine HM
4. Sompting Pumpkins
Not all pumpkins are orange Photo: Katherine HM