A new pumpkin patch is getting ready to open in South Cumbria.
The Milk Hut pumpkin patch, on High Roosebeck Farm, based in Ulverston, will open on Friday October 24 from 3.30pm until 5.30pm and will run through the half term week every day from 10am to 5pm until Friday October 31.
It is being run by first generation farmers Jessica Pinder, 35 and Chris Ford, 39, who are opening the patch as a side venture from their usual dairy farming and self-service milk and milkshake vending machine, The Milk Hut.
Jessica, said: “We’ve thought about doing it for a couple of years, but this year just seemed like the perfect time to do it.
“We’re a family of five so we don’t want it to be an expensive day. It’s not ticketed and you don’t have to pay for parking, there’s no entrance fee and the pumpkins will be a reasonable price.
“We’re also arranging some food vendors to come, so we’ve got the Love Pizza Land Rover coming for a few days and we’ll be doing our own cakes all week and we’ll have our milkshakes, hot drinks like coffee and hot chocolate, Halloween sweets and things like that for people to buy.
“Families can come and if they don’t want to spend much, parents can get a brew and their kids can run around, that’s what our kids do and they love it.”
The patch will take place on the field next to the Milk Hut and Jessica said they are looking to set up a photo opportunities with an arch for families to enjoy.
Two charity collection wishing wells will also be on site for people to donate to, with money going to Sandside Lodge School for SEND children and another cause that Jessica said the family are still deciding on.
Instead of a ticket, people are encouraged to donate to charity or treat themselves to a farm fresh product.
Jessica and Chris took over High Roosebeck Farm from friends in September 2020, after Chris worked on the farm as a teenager.
The pair made the decision to install The Milk Hut in summer 2022, as a way to sell their products to people directly.
In 2023, they also started selling farm fresh eggs, meat, and homemade cakes including for special occasions, which are available for pre-order.
Their decision to diversify how they sell milk and create The Milk Hut first came in response to the impact of the Covid pandemic on the dairy market.
Late last year, the pair made the decision to stop selling their milk to big buyers when the price of milk dropped and instead, they increased their processing facility and now offer a traditional milk round.
The pair have worked hard to bring all the work involved with milk production on site, including pasteurising, separating and bottling.
Jessica said: “We don’t send any of our milk to any big buyers now, so it’s a case of trying to bring as many people as possible to our farm to try and get our milk sold that way.
“It is a case of doing different things to keep the hut busy, so we’ve done other things like our sunflower field for people to visit and we did a pick your own potato day.
“But the pumpkin patch is something new and different for us and it’s a diversification, but one that we really want to do.”
