We were looking for something to do in the local area for Halloween, so we decided to visit and have a day out at Fordingbridge Pumpkin Pastures. And I wanted to share with you my personal review, as pumpkin picking in the UK is becoming more popular.
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If you are in Wiltshire or Hampshire or not too much further, then you may have been searching for “pumpkin picking near me”, as I did. Having a quick browse on the web, I came across Pumpkin Pastures in Fordingbridge, which is situated in Hampshire on the outskirts of the New Forest.
We have never been before but this pumpkin patch was great fun. We have never really been Halloween people. But now our son is older and understands it more, we thought it would be nice to do something that involved pumpkins. So that’s why I thought I would share my review and let you decide if you want to visit Fordingbridge Pumpkin Pastures.
There was actually more there to do than I expected, and it kept me us and a 3-year-old entertained for a good few hours. So if you are looking for somewhere to go pumpkin picking in Hampshire, then I would definitely recommend this place!
Pumpkin picking prices
You do not need to pay for parking and it doesn’t cost anything to go in for the PYO pumpkins, which is another tick in the box for us. That way you only spend what you want to and we just had to pay for fuel to drive over.
I think there may be a charge if you go to their Super Saturday event, but check the Pumpkin Pastures website for more info on that.
We know the Fordingbridge area well so we were happy to drive over there and take a look, especially as you don’t have to pre-book. It’s kind of frustrating as in most places these days you have to pre-book tickets, and we all know anything can happen on the day!
So this was a plus for me, as the weather had been very stormy over the weekend and I wasn’t sure if the rain was going to hold off. But it was sunny and dry so we decided to see what all the fuss of pumpkin picking was about.
I think the prices for the pumpkins were very fair. We only paid £1 for our munchkin-size pumpkins and the largest we had cost £4.
Pumpkin patch location
The pumpkin patch is at:
Fordingbridge Pumpkin Pastures
Ringwood Road, Slip Road
Fordingbridge, SP6 1AN
The location was signposted so it was very easy to find. We know the area well but you can’t miss it as it is just past the slip road. We then drove into a large field which has plenty of free parking.
On their website, it says to wear wellies and that you will probably get muddy. We did get a little muddy but it wasn’t too bad, just little one got covered as we all know what toddlers are like. From falling over to going on the slides!
It is in a large field so be prepared to get a bit muddy, and don’t wear a white jumper as I did!
What activities/facilities are there?
So as we walked through the entrance into the area, I was really surprised at how much they had there. I didn’t really look into what they had, we were just after the pumpkin picking so it was really lovely.
As we walked in we grabbed a wheelbarrow and then headed to the pumpkin field on the right, to complete the pick your own pumpkins. There were so many in all shapes, sizes, and colours. We picked a few small and 2 larger sizes.
We didn’t see any huge pumpkins however there was a large wooden box/crate that had large pumpkins in it for you to choose from if you wanted to. There may have been more selection if you go when they first open for the season.
We then had a look at what else was on offer.
There were slides that were attached to haybales, so we spent quite a while on these.
There were slingshots/NERF gun targets if you wanted to pay and have a go at these.
There was a little wooden musical area and also a guess the pumpkin weight game.
The spooky tunnel wasn’t massive but our son loved it, and there were 4 doors for him to open to see skeletons and ghosts behind.
The tractor ride was his favorite. We had to go on it twice and was only £2 a ride. It was basically a barrel train ride, with the barrels attached to the tractor. He loved pretending that he was driving with the steering wheel, and they did a couple of laps before going through the haybale tunnel.
There was also an area where they had several ride-on pedal karts/bikes/cars, which were another big hit with him. It was very hard trying to drag him away from these.
We then had a play on the large wooden swing and sat on the big wooden chair to take some pictures.
After spending a while playing and exploring it started to rain, so we decided it was time to go as we had been there a few hours. However, a bit of rain doesn’t hurt and we would have happily carried on if we had just arrived.
So we headed to the pumpkin washing station where there were large buckets of water and scrubbing brushes. Then we used the pumpkin measuring station, to gauge what price we would pay for our pumpkins.
There was also a craft tent which we did not go in, but I’m sure this would keep the kids entertained.
There were also portable toilets if you needed them, and a few food stands with hot and cold drinks, and hot and cold food available. We took our own lunch so didn’t actually buy anything from these, but I did have to try to avoid the ice cream van as our son wanted ice cream, and I told him it was too cold.
We went through the exit and measured again and paid for our pumpkins. The girls were lovely and gave him a sticker. And the great thing is you had the option to pay cash or card.
Final thoughts
So overall we were really impressed with Fordingbridge Pumpkin Pastures in Hampshire. I can’t say it’s the best pumpkin picking near me as I have nothing to compare it to, but we will definitely go again next year as we really enjoyed ourselves.
The staff were all friendly and helpful. It’s great you don’t have to book, and it’s a free entrance fee and free parking.
I would personally recommend going here and there is plenty to do to entertain the little ones and family! I hope you enjoy it as much as we did.