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From orange to green
halloween is on the scene. Nothing
screams Halloween like jack-o'-lanterns.
But finding wild pumpkins is not easy in
the heart of Toronto.
Several farms line the outskirts of the
city and Whittamore's farm is bringing in
the season with 10,000
pumpkins. Visitors get to transform a
grocery run
into family fun. "This has the most
activities for children.
Ws we're a family we bring our
grandchildren here and
so it has many things it has animals,
climbing-
you know it's a real farm, a great farm
experience."
"Yeah i think it's a special time of the
year. The weather's gorgeous. The
colors. It's just
very special. I've got my grandchild here
today and so we're pumpkin picking and
we're just having fun."
"I've been coming here maybe for - I've
been in Markham for 12 years, so it's
about 12 years we've been coming, yeah."
Torontonians choose the farm because of
its closeness to home.
"We live in the city so it was close to
the city, and nice and easy to access."
With just a few steps into the farm
visitors enter pumpkin land.
"Pumpkin land, or pumpkins we've always
had pumpkins for sale for the last 40
years but pumpkin land,
we've been running pumpkin land now for,
probably about 18 years."
Here at pumpkin land, families, friends
and schools get to pick from a variety
of pumpkins.
From small pie pumpkins, to large carving
pumpkins.
There is something for everyone.
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The patch is also perfect for a photo op.
Outside of pumpkin land. Whittamores
offers a full day of activities for the
family.
"There's about 15 or 16 different things
to do here. You can spend a whole day
here."
Walking through the farm, there are many
things to explore.
From getting lost in the corn maze,
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to a puppet show,
to petting and feeding the farm animals,
to throwing a birthday party,
and even a pumpkin cannon that shoots
pumpkins about 400 meters.
"The most fun part is watching all the
young kids and how much joy they get out
of coming out to the farm
and doing all the activities." Beyond
these activities families can also take
home
farm goods. The farm has a market on site.
Jake Whittamore, the owner's son, works at
the farm shop.
"Yeah it's a very busy time of year
around here. It's probably when
most customers come through." They carry
lots of fresh Ontario grown
produce. "We have quite a variety -
cucumbers, tomatoes,
carrots, beets, broccoli, cauliflower,
and our biggest thing right now is
apples. We carry about eight different
varieties of apples."
Aside from fruits and vegetables,
homemade pies and tarts are also
available.
"Pies are probably one of our most
popular things here. We sell
strawberry rhubarb, raspberry, blueberry,
mixed fruit, pumpkin pie, pecan pie.
During Thanksgiving weekend we probably
sell about 4000 pies.
People, people really enjoy them. They
keep coming back."
Whittamore's farm has been around for many
years.
"<y father bought this farm in 1952, and
he started a pick your own in
strawberries and raspberries in 1959."
The Whittamores have since grown fun on
the farm by bringing in all sorts of
entertainment
and the farm gets more visitors each
year. "Well it's continued to increase
in popularity with the growth of Toronto
but yeah it's been
becoming more popular."
Whittamore's farm is open from nine to
five every day.
Come pick a pumpkin before Halloween. You
Nushin Fahti,
Toronto Today.