Autumn, a time that most people wait for throughout the year, is back once again. This means the scent of cinnamon, pumpkin spice, and falling leaves is around the corner. So, together, let’s bundle up in our coziest sweater and explore five things you can do with pumpkins this fall!
Pumpkin Carving
Who doesn’t like carving a good pumpkin now and then? And what’s better than using a stencil to make your life easier? You can get cheap, affordable stencils at any craft stores, online sites, and you can even look on pinterest.com and print stencils out for free! One site such as sulky.com has one free and some affordable stencil packs based on how many sheets you want. Therefore, if you don’t have time to go to the store and buy stencil packs, you can just print them out online in your own home!
Pumpkin Picking
Nothing is better than taking a drive with your family to pick pumpkins and taking in the beautiful scenery and scents of fall. These are the three best pumpkin picking locations on Long Island:
- Stakey’s Pumpkin Farm – Stakey’s Pumpkin Farm has been a family-owned pumpkin farm since 1976. They are a “pick-your-own” pumpkin patch, making it an interactive, exciting experience. They have 18 different pumpkin varieties to pick straight off the vine, making the pumpkins fresher than others. Aside from just pumpkin picking, they offer other experiences such as a corn maze, hay rides, and a flower house.
- Glover Farms – Glover Farms, a family-owned business started in 1952, is a multipurpose farm in Riverhead, Long Island. Glover offers many different types of fun activities throughout the seasons such as “Strawberry picking fresh off the vine in June”, “Pumpkin picking in October”, & year-round experiences with their animals, which you can feed straight from your hands!
- Holzman’s Family Farm – The Holzman’s Family Farm is a family & PET FRIENDLY farm located in Riverhead. They offer experiences such as a U-Pick pumpkin picking event, corn & hay mazes, hay and barrel rides, pumpkin decorating contests and so much more! Similarly to the events, they offer a wide variety of different foods.
Cook Pumpkin Recipes
Bakers, have you been interested in trying new recipes for fall? Well, I sure have good news for you! Many sites, especially online cookbooks, have SO many recipes that involve pumpkin, ginger, and sweet icing that you can follow online to make the most delectable treats. The top pumpkin recipe from allrecipes.com is Pumpkin Ginger Cupcakes These delicious sounding cupcakes are just like they’re described: gingery, pumpkiny and packed with flavor and fluffiness.
Pumpkin Painting
Do you have an issue with neighborhood squirrels devouring your carved pumpkins? Or youngsters that can’t even hold a fork without dropping it? As an alternative to prevent injuries occurring while carving and disappearing carved pumpkins is painting your pumpkins! Painting pumpkins is not that environmentally friendly but it’s safer if you have little children or siblings that are too young to carve them. It also does not attract bugs or any wildlife that are interested in stealing your pumpkins. It is also more interactive than carving because you can come up with your own silly ideas in a more time effective way.
Pumpkin Bird Feeder
Do you like spoiling the wildlife, particularly the birds? Well here’s a cost effective way to feed your wilderness friends! You can buy as many miniature pumpkins as you please, or a large one, some cheap birdseed (or you can make your own mix), and some heavy duty twine or rope! Then all you have to do is follow the simple instructions and hang it up on the sturdiest branch of your favorite tree!