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Pumpkin-Picking-Palooza

Thanks to a bumper crop of pumpkins at Roots this year, during October, each Lower School grade enjoyed a trip to the farm for pumpkin picking and fall fun. As is tradition, the kindergarten classes trekked to Roots to pluck the pumpkins they planted in the early summer. After finding the perfect orange orb, they enjoyed a tour of the farm, games, and explored the corn maze. This year, because the family favorite Honey of a JamFest was canceled, Farmer Hood and Chef Staley welcomed the other Lower School grades throughout the month to join the fun. Lower schoolers in virtual school and their families also had an opportunity to experience the many things Roots has to offer at a special physically-distanced pumpkin picking on a crisp Saturday morning in mid-October. 

The youngest students weren’t the only ones to enjoy the bounty of the pumpkin patch. Farmer Hood sent a load of palm-sized “Cinderella” pumpkins to the Middle School and the Rollins-Luetkemeyer Scholars had a decorating contest with pumpkins harvested down the road from the dorms. Students in the eighth grade Farm to Fork elective learned how to make delicious food using every bit of the pumpkin from the blossoms and seeds to the pulp and the skin. Lastly, and perhaps most importantly, tons of pumpkins along with butternut squash were donated to the Maryland Food Bank.