A CHESHIRE farm opens its pumpkin patch this weekend.
Family run Bidlea Dairy offers families lots of other Halloween treats.
New autumn ice cream flavours, coffees, milkshakes and tasty homemade soups will also be available at Orchard Farm in Twemlow.
More than 2,500 pumpkins of all shapes and sizes can be picked from Saturday, October 7 to October 31.
There is no booking or entry fee and visitors are welcome from 9am to 5pm seven days a week.
Farmer Adam Brown said: “This is our third year to open our pumpkin patch.
“We’ve got wheelbarrows so people can come and pick whatever they want. Bring your wellies or outdoor shoes.
“The cows will eat any pumpkins that are left over. They love them so there will be no waste.
“We feed them potatoes, these are like sweet potatoes so it will be a treat.”
The award-winning dairy produces 24 different flavours of ice cream in their farm shop.
Adam and wife Becky came up with the idea of making ice cream when their business was struggling to cope with a drop in demand during lockdown.
Sales of fresh cream plummeted as pubs, cafes and restaurants closed.
Just six months after launching their new enterprise, the family scooped four gold awards at an international competition.
The secret of their success, they believe, is the rich cream and top quality milk produced by their 35-strong Holstein Fresian herd.
“Our cows produce free range milk with a high butter fat which makes a big difference to the cream,” said Adam.
“The milk is pumped through an overhead pipeline direct from the milking parlour into pasteuriser.
“It doesn’t come into contact with any humans. There are no milk tankers.
“Everything is local, fresh and traceable.”
Autumn and Halloween have inspired the family to experiment with new flavours.
“We’ve made a new apple strudel ice cream,” said Adam.
“There are also pumpkin spice milk shakes.
“For Halloween, we will be making raspberry ripple which will be black and green instead of red.
“Mum makes pumpkin soup which is always popular.”
Adam and Becky work with Adam’s brother Ryan and his wife Becky, sister Melanie, parents Ray and Jill, Becky’s mum Angela Williams and other members of the family and friends.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here