It’s a glorious autumn morning, and an orderly queue has formed in a pocket of the Aberdeenshire countryside.
Stephanie Ross and Rory Gregor are clad in neon orange hoodies, sorting through tickets and welcoming excited visitors.
Straw bales are ready to be sat on, and the stars of the show have been artfully scattered.
Why else would you arrive bright and early in Inverurie, wheelbarrow at the ready?
Pumpkins of course.
The Pumpkin Ranch
Ready and waiting to fulfil their spooky destiny, The Pumpkin Ranch is the new squash on the block in the north-east.
The patch is the brainchild of Stephanie and Rory and tickets for the event have sold out.
From instagramable white pumpkins to the endearingly gnarly and imperfect, there’s something rather lovely about picking your own pumpkin for carving.
These aren’t just any pumpkins either, these bad boys have been grown on organic matter and can be chosen undercover thanks to a polytunnel – which also serves as a maternity ward at lambing time.
And if there’s one thing cuter than pumpkins, why not add some puppies to the mix!
Society was lucky enough to get a squeeze of three adorable collie pups who happen to live on site until they find their new homes, and found out why even the ugliest of pumpkins can be transformed.
Tell me a bit about yourselves
R: I’m Rory and I’m 30. I’m a sheep farmer, but I worked in oil and gas for nine years, and now I’m a first generation farmer.
S: I’m Stephanie, I’m 32 and I’m assistant principal at a dance school, called Evolution School of Dance. I’m a professionally trained contemporary dancer.
Wow, what inspired you to create The Pumpkin Ranch?
R: So I think the original idea came about when I saw a picture on Facebook.
It was tipping it down with rain, and the person was knee deep in mud, pumpkin picking with their child. I thought to myself, is this really what people want to do? And if it is, how can we make that experience better?
S: The polytunnel was sitting here empty for most of the year, but we had never done anything like this before. We went in really blind.
What happened next?
R: So the polytunnel is where lambing normally happens, around February time. We planted 700 pumpkin seeds on June 1 and it went from there.
S: We mentioned our idea to a friend and they recommended growing the pumpkins in muck. Our pumpkins are organically grown because of the sheep manure left behind here. Before our irrigation system got started up, we were watering everything by hand.
Do you think people know much about the growing process?
S: No, we certainly didn’t. We started getting green shoots coming up, that was a relief! We did post a lot on social media to try and show people though.
R: We brought bees in for the fertilisation process. But before they arrived, there were a few weeks when we had to pollinate them ourselves.
There is only a one day window for the female flower, and I think next year we’ll have more information on site as to what it takes to grow pumpkins. We harvested around 2,200 pumpkins in total for our first attempt.
Of course it’s hard work, but it’s worth it.
What was the vision with The Pumpkin Ranch?
S: We wanted to create somewhere where people can come with their families, and enjoy themselves undercover. Pick your pumpkin, then play some games. It has been so nice hearing from people, they’ve had a great morning and want to carve their pumpkin after lunch.
R: It was also a way for us to diversify in first generation farming. It’s a way for us to offer something to do for people in the countryside, it gives people that boost.
We’ve got a chicken who quite often comes along for a look and she’s got her own fan club going. We’ve asked people to name her on social media.
What makes the perfect pumpkin?
S: We grow the classic orange ones, and white pumpkins have been really popular this year as well. We haven’t got many of those left.
Our pumpkins aren’t the stereotypical perfect pumpkins. They were planted by hand, even watered by hand for a time. I think the imperfect ones are lovely.
R: I think people need to give them a chance. The pumpkins that have got scars on from where a slug came along. You can get really creative with that when you are carving it.
What’s next for The Pumpkin Ranch?
R: We’ve been so busy, we haven’t had that much time to think. We’ll be back next year, and we’re thinking of growing some pumpkins outside.
S: We didn’t really know what to expect, but it has gone so well. I think what makes it worth it to us, is seeing how much people enjoy it when they come along. Halloween is evolving, and seeing the joy on people’s faces. That’s really special.
And finally, how can people get their hands on tickets?
S: We get messages every day with people desperate to get tickets. We have sold out, but we’ve advised people to keep an eye on our social media in case of cancellations or last minute releases.
R: It can change all the time. We might discover that we’ve got 100 pumpkins left and and therefore release more tickets. We’re always assessing it, so keep an eye out.
To find out more, visit The Pumpkin Ranch on Facebook.