Picking Pumpkins in Germany

Tuna, Bay, and I visited Jerry's Pumpkin Patch in Litzlohe, Bayern, Germany this afternoon. Jerry is an American living in Germany. The field is huge and full of pumpkins of every shape and size. We got to lug a wheelbarrow around the field to choose our pumpkins, then cut them from the vine ourselves. 

Did you know: pumpkins turn orange due to warm weather and sunlight? Those two things are a precious commodity in Bavaria, so our pumpkins are mottled green and orange. 

We like them that way. It's fitting, in a way. Different pumpkins in a different country. 

 Sameness is appreciated, sometimes, too. Like picking pumpkins at a pumpkin patch: same experience on whatever side of the globe you call home. 

Sunday Stroll: Ludwigsburg Pumpkin Festival

This week's Sunday Stroll took us to Ludwigsburg Pumpkin Festival, boasted to be the largest in the world. It's about two hours from home, which is quite a drive for a Sunday stroll, but it was reported to be quite special, so we made the trip. 

(Anyway, two hours doesn't seem like a big deal anymore. Living in Europe has changed how we view travel.)

The festival was held in the garden of the palace above. Such a gorgeous setting for a festival!

There were pumpkin carvings and sculptures all over the place. This year's theme was the Olympics. 

The best part was the food. Oh my, the food. We decided to get one of (almost) everything and sample and share. There was pumpkin soup, drizzled with pumpkin seed oil and pumpkin seeds...

...and pumpkin frites with a delicious sauce...

...and pumpkin strudel with fresh cream and chopped pumpkin seeds...

...and pumpkin popcorn, and cinnamon-sugar pumpkin seeds, and chili-sugar pumpkin seeds, and pumpkin chutney, and pumpkin jam, and pumpkin pie, and sparkling pumpkin wine. It was so much fun to try it all. 

Above is the third place winner for largest pumpkin: Over five hundred pounds of pumpkin. 

There was an area where kids could play in the hay. Kids were making hay stacks and jumping off and having hay fights. I was thankful for the Benedryl when we got home, but Tuna and Bay had a blast playing in the hay. 

There was a pumpkin carving station where parents could purchase jack-o-lantern pumpkins for the kids to carve. 

Believe it or not, this was the very first time both girls have single-handedly carved a jack-o-lantern. I was so tempted to help. I even offered a few times. But neither of them would have any of it. 

They worked diligently on their carving for about half an hour. 

I was so proud of their pumpkins. They both did a great job. 

It was a great way to spend the day. We all ate pumpkin seeds on the way home (yep, we still had room!) and stopped at a burger joint in Neumarkt just before home. 

Next Sunday, if the weather is good, I'm planning to take the kids to a treetop boardwalk in the Bavarian National Forest. 

this post linked to Hip Homeschool Mom's Field Trip Ideas Around the World

Autumn Nature Study: Mushroom Prints

Yesterday, before geology co-op, Tuna and I went to the nearby nature trail to collect some things for nature study and our seasonal focus. We collected a bag full of mushrooms and carefully transported them home. 

 

I found this idea for mushroom spore prints from Martha Stewart. I knew better than to expect perfection a la Martha, but thought it would be worth a go to make some prints of our own for our nature journal. 

I'm not sure what kind of mushrooms we collected. We didn't bother identifying them aside from poisonous/nontoxic. We talked mostly about the gills and spores of the mushrooms, and how some of the mushrooms were spongy while others were gilled. 

Of interest to me was the fact that the color of the prints didn't match the color of the mushroom. We didn't pick anything remotely yellow, yet yellow was one of the prominent colors displayed. 

If you click on this image, you might find two little hitchhikers. See them?

We did the one-hour sample test Martha recommends with terrible results. There were no spores on our papers after an hour. Not willing to give in so easily, and not having anything to lose anyway, we made new prints on fresh paper and pressed our mushrooms overnight under some heavy dinnerware. We woke this morning to these bright prints. 

The spores are delicate, so a spritz of hairspray to keep the print still is recommended. Additionally, we put ours in page protectors for our nature journal. 

post linked to hip homeschool moms

Ongoing Project: Pumpkin Rot

As part of our seasonal studies, we've carved a pumpkin to observe its decomposition. We're going to photograph it daily to watch it decompose. I will post an update when it's rotted completely. Aren't you excited? 

Sunday Strolls

New habit: Go somewhere every Sunday and take pictures. Fresh air, nature, and family. Can't beat it. 

Today's Sunday Stroll: Wildpark Hollöhe in Schwandorf, Germany. For no admission fee, you can stroll the nature paths, picnic, play at the playground and the barefoot park, use the toilets (Free, clean, toilets are scarce in Europe!) and see all the animals. For a meager €0,50 you can feed the animals, too. 

It was today that it occurred to me that weekends can be schoolish days, too. Walking around the nature trails, discussing sap, pine cones, acorns, water levels, leaves changing, animal calls, and poop identification: That's nature study! 

It's also excellent bonding time. 

I look forward to our next Sunday Stroll. I wonder where it'll find us. 

Seasonal Homeschooling

I enjoy including seasonal lessons in our days. Autumn is our favorite season (and seems too short), so our days are filled with seasonal activity. 

Today, we took a bike ride in the crisp breeze to pick up groceries. When we finished, we rode across the street to the pick-your-own. honor system, flower fields to get some fresh blooms, likely the last of the season. We walked our bikes home, stopping along the way to harvest apples, plums, and pears from the trees on our street. We looked for walnuts but didn't find any. 

We also made some bird feeders from squash. We hung on in the front yard, and plated one for the patio. 

Next week, we'll be waxing fall leaves, collecting pine needles & cones, acorns, and rocks for several other seasonal projects, and baking delicious fall treats. 

Here's a couple photos of our bird feeders: