Plumper Pumpkin Patch

My homeschool group had a field trip to the Plumper Pumpkin Patch in NW Portland.  You might be wondering how cool a field trip to a pumpkin farm would be in the spring, and the answer is, way cool!  We were really astonished with how many things they had to show us.  They started the tour in their 120-year-old dairy barn.  We saw barn swallow nests and milking stalls.  We went on a hayride and we got to see the giant catapult and the cannon, which visitors use in the fall to fire pumpkins at an old car (we were assured this is quite entertaining). We saw goats, piglets, calves, chickens, baby chicks, bees in their beehive, donkeys, and an alpaca.  We got to run around in an indoor hay bale maze and play on giant slides.  But the definite highlight was planting pumpkin seeds.  The farmer carefully explained the different plows, planters, and cultivators they use.  Then he showed the kids how to use a hand plow to make a furrow for the pumpkin seeds, how to plant them, and how to turn the soil back over the furrow with the hand plow. We all got to see what real farmers do to plant a crop.   Our homeschool group can come back in the fall and see how the row we planted together turns out! http://www.plumperpumpkins.com/