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A suggestion a few years ago to farmer Reinhard Guhl makes it possible
for children in the KMC today to experience the American harvest
tradition of hunting for just the perfect pumpkin in a real pumpkin
patch.
“I had an American family in my house, and they told me to open a
pumpkin patch for the Soldiers who will come and buy the pumpkins,”
said Herr Guhl, who believes he has the only pumpkin patch in the KMC.
“The family say, ‘It’s a good thing – in the States, they normally go
to the pumpkin patch,’ and I say, ‘Okay, I’ll do it.’”
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That was in 1991. Since then, groups of pre-school and school aged
children have picked the perfect pumpkin at the one-and-a-half acre
Sunshine Pumpkin Patch in Gerhardsbrunn, less than 15 minutes from
Landstuhl.
One such group were preschoolers from the Kleber CDC who trekked out to
Herr Guhl’s farm Sept. 29 for a morning filled with adventure and
learning.
“It teaches them a lot of things like how things grow, about fall when
the weather changes and how we get our food from different sources,”
said Dee Dee Lana, the U.S. Army Garrison Kaiserslautern’s Kleber CDC
director.
The learning doesn’t have to stop there as Herr Guhl also offers tours to his farm to see cows, pigs, chickens, goats and geese.
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Beaming with excitement, four-year-old Neelia Lynn, said “I want to see
the animals,” but as she entered the barn to see the cows, she quickly
commented, “It smells bad.”
Learning continues for weeks after their field trip as all the children
at the Kleber CDC, even infants who can scoop out the seeds, help to
make pumpkin pie, soup and muffins.
“We have a portable oven that goes from classroom to classroom and the
children will do the whole product from start to end,” said Ms. Lana,
who added that the Kleber CDC has gone to the farm and baked pumpkin
goods for at least the past five years.
The Sunshine Pumpkin Patch is open 1 to 4 p.m. Saturday and Sunday for
individual families. Weekday tours for groups are also available. A
tour of the farm and a hayride are available upon request, weather
permitting. Herr Guhl also has potatoes and sweet corn available for
purchase. To arrange a visit and for price information, call Herr Guhl
at 06375-5852.
Directions from Kaisers-autern: Exit autobahn A6 towards
Saarbrücken at Landstuhler Kreuz and take A62 towards Pirmasens. Take
the first exit Landstuhl/Atzel and Martinshöhe. At the stop sign turn
left in the direction of Martinshöhe. From there follow the road
through a wooded area which opens into farm country.
Turn left at the sign that reads “Wallhalben 7 km, Gerhadsbrunn 2
km. (There is also a handmade sign that directs you to the farm).
Follow the road into the village of Gerhardsbrunn. The pumpkin farm is on the left on Adam Müller Strasse 11.
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