Pumpkins

When you drive past local farms in the New Forest during October, you will see a flood of orange glowing from the pumpkins that are growing through the autumn months! 

Pumpkins are an incredibly popular vegetable in October, which is mainly down to the tradition of carving a scary face on a pumpkin at Halloween, but that’s not all pumpkins are good for, they make delicious food too!

From warming pumpkin soup, to tasty pumpkin muffins, pumpkin gratins to autumn pumpkin salads, there are so many recipes you can follow to make delicious dishes and treats with pumpkins. 

You can buy pumpkins from local farm shops and greengrocers across the New Forest  in October, or it’s now a popular activity to go pumpkin picking! Cat & Fiddle Farm, Sopley Farm and many other farms across the New Forest invite guests to come and walk around their wonderful farms full of pumpkins to find their favourite looking one! You don't want to miss picking your own pumpkins at Bickton Manor Farm in Fordingbridge with their pumpkin picking and Halloween maize maze event this October!

In the autumn, lots of restaurants, pubs and cafes also use locally grown pumpkins in their seasonal dishes too.