Shake The Hand That Feeds You

Outside Experience 1

As  a child of suburban Illinois, I had an October dream. I wanted to pick a pumpkin off of a vine. I know this may sound silly, but not growing up in a rural town makes you appreciate some of the traditions that go along with agriculture. Also, Halloween is kind of a huge deal in my family. My mother's birthday is on Halloween so we always have a huge celebration for it. We would go to a patch, go through some corn mazes, have some cider, and I would pick the biggest pumpkin I could find. (I need to clarify though, that a "patch" in Chicago means someone trucks in some pumpkins, unloads them on the ground, and you get to sift through a bunch of pumpkins in a grassy patch of land till you find one that suits your fancy.) I'd make my parents take home the largest, roundest, and orangiest pumpkin they had (even if it mean't my parents spent $50 on a pumpkin). Then we would go home and have a carving party while listening to music, and filling up the kitchen with pumpkin seeds and laughter.

Yes I am carving a pumpkin in my pjs while sitting on a table

Dad was always more interesting than anything else!

Parental supervision even though I had mastery knife skills at 4

 Later, we would put the jack-o-lanters out, get costumed up, and go trick or treating for hours after dinner. And come home and eat my mom's birthday cake.

Grandma's awesome sewing skills, we always had the best costumes

Obviously, Halloween has a special place in my heart. It is not only my favorite holiday, but one that I got all out for an celebrate. So not going to get pumpkins and having a carving party was out of the question. I got lucky because my boyfriend had a Friday off finally and I was intent on getting a pumpkin. We first headed to Musgrave Orchards to get some cider for our carving party, and by party I mean me, Bob, and Penny. We got bundled up in our rain gear, and picked up some local cider which was so yummy. They didn't have pumpkins there though, so I had to improvise. We started heading down 46 towards the agricultural sector of Bloomington. About a mile down the road I saw a lovely sign saying "Fowler's Pumpkin Patch"! I was immediately sold... and kind of hoping that they might give me a discount since it's my last name too.

At the Fowler Pumpkin Patch Entrance

A couple miles down the road, we pulled up to this adorable little farm with a scarecrow in the front yard. There were pumpkins everywhere! Not only were there cut pumpkins, like when they dump them on a lawn in the burbs and your are tricked into thinking it is a "patch," but there was an ACTUAL patch of pumpkins by their vines! SOME STILL ATTACHED! I had struck Halloween gold!

Part of one of the 3 patches

 A lovely man came out to greet us, on the uncharacteristically cold and rainy fall day, cheerful and chipper to see excited customers. His wife came out to meet us with a cart to pull along to put our pumpkins on. She laughed and said I came prepared in my rainboots because it was a mud field out there. (That wasn't going to stop me!)

Patch with a glimpse of the tree patches

Bob and I readily walked around the patch excited as all can be to get pumpkins. I think my excitement wore off on him because he got super into it looking for "the perfect pumpkin." We ended up walking around the entire farm probably for around an hour trading pumpkins till we were satisfied. We finally yanked the wagon back up this hill where we were going to purchase them. To my amazement I spent only $20 on two huge pumpkins and one medium one. That is UNHEARD of in my hometown. You normally pay $20 a pumpkin and you miss half the experience. I started talking to the lovely couple about how much fun I had, and how awesomely affordable their prices are. They told me it is pretty normal around there and they have been in the pumpkin business for about 3 years or so and have been doing really well from it. We chatted a bit longer and they started telling us how they have a Christmas tree farm as well.

I really enjoyed my time there. It brought to mind one of my favorite quotes "shake the hand that feeds you." Michael Pollan wrote this yet, it is not something we are unfamiliar with when it comes to building sustainability in our communities. Know your farmer, know where your food comes from, and support your local farmer. That day I was able to connect with the earth in a way I had been dreaming about since I was a little girl. So I would just like to take a moment to thank the Fowler Pumpkin Patch in Bloomington, Indiana for allowing me to check off yet another item on my bucket list.

-Stephanie