A PUMPKIN Patch at a farm village was put through its paces by children from a local school before its official opening this weekend.

Two classes from Bowmansgreen JMI School in London Colney, were invited to Willows Farm Village in Coursers Road to harvest the vegetables from the crop of thousands growing in the Pumpkin Patch before putting their carving and creative skills to the test by crafting spooky designs.

Tracey Plummer, Year 2 teacher at Bowmansgreen School, said: “The children had a great time and were really enthusiastic about taking part. I think that all the fresh air and exercise involved in harvesting the pumpkins helped them to work up an appetite, as a couple of children asked whether there’d be pumpkin soup on the menu for dinner when we returned to school!”

Farmer at Willows, Anna Wolfe, said: “It was wonderful to be able to welcome the classes from Bowmansgreen School and see their reaction to the Pumpkin Patch. It’s been an excellent season for growing pumpkins on the farm so they really were spoilt for choice – in some cases it was hard to convince them to choose just one pumpkin to carve!

“We were so impressed with all of the children’s designs; it was the perfect way to start this year’s Pumpkin Festival which we hope will be our best yet.”

There are thousands more pumpkins growing in the Pumpkin Patch at Willows – all waiting to be picked during the October half term. Each child who visits Willows between this Saturday and next Sunday, November 4, will be able to harvest their own free prize pumpkin.

Visitors can take their orange bounty home or, like the children of Bowmansgreen School, become ‘pumpkin Picassos’ in the Willows Carving Cavern.

As well as their farmyard animals, Willows will also play host to a group of spine-tingling creatures – the stars of the ‘Zootacular’ animal shows. From snakes to giant bugs, lizards and racoon dogs, children can learn all about their favourite creepy creatures in time for Halloween with shows taking place daily.

Visit www.willowsfarmvillage.com for full details or call 0870 129 9718.