
The Pumpkin Patch Mum
Join Emily on her journey through life at Foxes Farm Produce as a mum balancing life with family commitments alongside running her family pumpkin business.
Based in Colchester, Essex the family farm run by husband and wife team Guy and Emily French grow and produce wholesale pumpkins for delivery across the UK, as well as operating two pick your own pumpkin patches in Colchester and Basildon.
Get an insight behind the scenes of one of the busiest and dynamic pumpkin farms in the UK.
The Pumpkin Patch Mum
Harvesting Memories: Pumpkin Picking with Bertie
In this heartwarming episode of Pumpkin Patch Mum, join us as we dive into the vibrant and sometimes chaotic world of pumpkin farming and family life. Today, we're in the midst of the busy pumpkin harvest, juggling the demands of the farm with the joys of raising children. It's a special day as Bertie joins me in the field, earning some pocket money while helping with the pumpkin picking. From discovering quirky "bottom pumpkins" to reminiscing about the summer holidays, this episode is full of laughter, family moments, and the little things that make farm life so rewarding. Tune in to hear how we manage the last day of summer and prepare for the upcoming pumpkin season!
www.foxesfarmproduce.co.uk
Hello and welcome to the pumpkin patch mum, this is a heartwarming and down to Earth podcast where we dive into the vibrant, busy and sometimes messy life of me and mum who also happens to be a passionate pumpkin farmer. For today on the pumpkin Patch Mum podcast, it's. All about Jo. So today we have been pumpkin harvesting and we've been doing some of. Our wholesale crop. Still, the summer holidays I have also been looking after the children. And we have. Got approximately an hour left of picking pumpkins and it's just so annoying because the pickers just didn't manage to finish this hour. And it just means it's gonna be really fiddly for me to get and in again just to finish this one bit of field. So what that means is I have thought, right, perfect. Let's combine an activity with some also some work. So we are going to go out in the field. And. Pumpkins so Pollyanna is going to be looked after Heinz, so you can go to bed, but 30 is going to get the chance to earn some pocket money and he's going to come out pumpkin picking with me. So let's see how he gets on. So, Bertie, you're excited to do pumpkin picking tonight? Yes. What are you looking forward to? Cheers. Do you think you're gonna be good? Yes. And who have you got? Helping you tonight, Mama? And are you gonna get some pocket money, do you think?
Yeah.
Like you just pick lots of pumpkins. So here we are in the field and Bertie is helping me a load of pumpkins into a box. He's picking the pumpkins from the floor. Luckily they're the standard size pumpkin, so he can lift them easily. And then he's putting them in a box and he is super excited. And we've been doing this over an hour now, so I'm thinking I should have. Pumpkin harvest the whole holiday 30. Are you enjoying doing pumpkin? My first? Yes. What's your favourite thing so far? Is it when you find the rotten pumpkins that you get the truck away? What is it then? Or is it? When you find a special tea pumpkin? What's your favourite thing be finding a bottom pumpkin. So bottom pumpkin or something? We'll call it a. Pumpkin, that is. Two pumpkins merged together and. Then it's like a little bottom. Which is quite cute. But 30, what did you tell everyone? What did you find on the floor today? So that's his lucky thing that he's.
No.
Allowed to take home with him. Likes to go for.
But yes, this is a very good entertainment. Hey, it's me today and I picked those pumpkins. Them two bottom ones, my.
Favourite jobs that we do here on the farm is sort out the wheelbarrows. Now I know that sounds a little bit crazy, but I love doing the wheelbarrows purely because it just reminds me. Of how they get used, I can just picture in my mind that all the children are pushing wheelbarrows or sometimes even in the wheelbarrows being pushed round the patch and making happy memories. So and then with my father-in-law who is lovely to do this to help me, we test our every single wheelbarrow and any that have got a slightly. Flat tyre or have got needed inner tube or need a new sticker. We basically make sure that they are patch fit so make sure that they're working that. When you lovely. Pumpkin pickers come visit that you can use a wheelbarrow and it's not. What a flat tyre. So today is the last day of the summer holidays, which I might say that's sad about. I love having Bertie at home. We've had some great memories made over this summer and it's been lovely just to spend time with family and friends. And yeah, he's really made the most of the summer with him, which has been amazing. So today I had to do the usual. Mum. Mum. Trip. So we have to click the second. Get his haircut so he's already ready for school. I've now just dropped him off with one of his grandmas because his cousins are there. So he's spending the day with. Then and that means I've got a bit of time just to sort some bits and bobs out. So one of the jobs that I'm doing today is sorting out the containers from the pumpkin patch. So as you can imagine, if you have visited one of our pumpkin patches, we have got hundreds and hundreds of signs. And things such as like, you know, anti back games we've got. Uh. Toasts with yellow steaks have got ripe for the car. Parts. Loads and loads and loads of bits like this and they all get packed away and once they do get packed away neatly, one of the jobs is. Just make sure we've got everything ahead of setting up for this season so there's some things I know that I've been out of stock and I've kind of ordered more things. Just more fence posts that we can put some signs up because they do get damaged overtime. Other things will last years and years. So that's my job today. Just checking through what's going into the containers and what we need to order.