Local Pumpkin Patch Opens This Saturday

Children should contain their excitement for just a bit longer as drizzly and generally uncooperative weather has forced Lake Ridge Nursery owner Susan Gray to postpone the opening of her Pumpkin Patch to Sept. 24. 

The patch will offer eight inflatable games, a zip line, a rope swing, and a giant slide, as well as toddler-appropriate structures such as a fire truck, a teepee, a train car, and a pirate ship.  A new 40-foot obstacle course will be unveiled on opening day.

While children of all ages play, adults may select a variety of pumpkins, gourds, fall decorations, and fresh apples grown in Winchester.  Concession food and drinks will also be available for purchase. 

The Pumpkin Patch has welcomed visitors at its 3705 Old Bridge Road address for the past 20 years.  Gray said she started her business with only “three bales of hay and a cash box in the trunk of a Mustang.” 

She soon noticed that children loved to play around the pumpkins and hay so she decided to accommodate their needs by creating more opportunities for recreation at the nursery. 

Since that first fall, Gray’s enterprise has expanded every year with the addition of inflatable jumpers, bounce houses, and slides.

Although Gray said there is a pumpkin shortage in the area due to uncommonly high humidity and the spread of mold after the recent tropical storm, she is confident the nursery’s stock and prices will not be affected.

The Pumpkin Patch will be open every day until Halloween from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.  Admission price for children is $12 from Monday to Thursday and $15 from Friday to Sunday (and Columbus Day).  For more information, please call 703-590-0178 or visit the nursery’s website.