Is it just me or have you noticed that Halloween isn’t really on the forefront this year. Outside of Winners and grocery store candy isles, I haven’t seen much mention of Halloween. Not many elaborately decorated homes, very little inflatable Halloween characters, and even less storefront with spooky cling windows or fake cotton spiderwebs.
So I took it upon myself to get in the festive spirit with a trip to Richmond Country Farms. I have already been to a couple of pumpkin patches in the Fraser Valley that took about 90 minutes to get there, so it was nice to be able to take a quicker 45 minute drive to Richmond instead.
I have visited their farm market and their winery previously, but have never stopped by for their pumpkin patch before today.
I didn’t realize how large the farm was. They have over four different fields to explore, each numbered for easy identification.
Admission includes a pumpkin of your “picking” and a single spartan apple of your choosing.
I enjoyed the fact that I was the only solo adult and managed to enjoy things at my quickened pace. Although at the same time was surprised that it was so busy on a Thursday morning, but could see that there was a lot children on class field trips. This is definitely a family friendly and kid focussed experience.
Right when you enter the property, it feels like you are walking onto festival grounds. Here, several food trucks are set up for concession eating. There are options like poutine, hotdogs, and mini donuts. All fair and festival favorites.
There is even live music with a performer singing and playing keyboards to country rendition of popular pop songs. He was entertaining the children dancing with Richmond Country Farms‘ mascot, Polly Pumpkin.
I was impressed by how busy it was on a Thursday morning. Looking around, this was a great spot for a field trip for this many young kids.
There was a makeshift town with a bar, store, jail, and saloon façades, and a cast of creepy ghouls greeting you at the entrance of each. Here there is a mini train that runs for kids to enjoy, but only during weekends.
However, there are wagon rides that you can enjoy. Not only do these take you to the pumpkin patches, but it also passes by a collection of decorated farm equipment, pond, and livestock pens. All decorated for Halloween with a haunted house and monsters that jumped out at you, a pirate display with skeletons walking the plank, and ghosties, attempting to drive tractors and excavators.
The first three pumpkin patches are more like a gathering place for pumpkins. Each one of them already picked, but still covered in mud and dirt. Each standing on its own, giving you an easier way to identify the one that you like the most. Ideal for children.
The first field was for the smallest, working your way to the second field with medium pumpkins, and the large ones are in the third. They did have a traditional pumpkin patch with orange gourds still attached to the vines at the fourth patch. However these were already fairly pick through and looking sad.
In each field from one to three there were plenty of photo ops. This included a Cinderella carriage, old timey wagons, and a bird cage.
Intermingle between these patches were fields of Dahlia‘s fully bloomed in an assortment of colours. Amongst them were a collection of animatronics that included moving trees, Jack Skellington and dinosaurs.
But my favourite part about the farm was that they had free roaming chickens and roosters. They were not afraid of people and enjoyed strutting around the farm grounds, picking at discarded apples and corn kernels still on the husk.
This was a lovely way to spend the afternoon and get my family friendly spooky fix.
Richmond Country Farms
12900 Steveston Hwy, Richmond, BC V6W 1A3
(604) 274-0522
richmondcountryfarms.com
