Jucker Farm Pumpkin Brunch
Living far from home, it’s tough to keep my childhood traditions alive. One of my favorite traditions from the USA is going to a good old fashioned pumpkin patch and carving pumpkins to have for Halloween. Switzerland is full of fun new traditions and we are loving learning about them. But every year when those cooler autumn days come, I have an uncontrollable urge for loads of pumpkins. My childhood memories are filled with pumpkin carving and Halloween costumes (always whatever my older sisters had worn that my mom made, as I’m the youngest).
Pumpkins
When the calendar changes to October, I immediately need pumpkin pie, pumpkin soup, roasted pumpkins, squashes, and sweet potatoes. Isn’t it funny how the change in season triggers so many childhood memories? We go to a pumpkin patch a few weeks before Halloween. The point is to get your house looking Halloween ready. And if you have carved pumpkins on your front doormat, then you are letting all the neighborhood children know that you’ll have candy for them on October 31st. Which is the point of Halloween, right?
From Sweet to Skeleton
When we moved from Seattle to London, Halloween changed as well. No longer were people dressed up as cute little Disney princesses and superheroes, suddenly everyone was a scary skeleton. I was super sad that Halloween didn’t translate overseas. The holiday that I always thought was super sweet had turned into a scary night. And then when we moved from London to Zürich I was hopeful that the costumes would go back to bright and cheery, but it was still more skeletons. So for me, Halloween is a wonderful, fun, bright, Disney character holiday.
Jucker Farm Pumpkin Sculptures
Jucker Farm nails all my expectations of all things autumn. From pumpkin sculptures to a full breakfast and lunch filled with pumpkin themed food, it has me covered. All my childhood needs are met with one visit between September and November to Jucker Farm.
Here’s How We Jucker Farm
As soon as I feel a chill in the air after summer and once school is back in session, I make a reservation for brunch at Jucker Farm. We eat breakfast, then buy and carve pumpkins, then eat lunch.
Brunch
OK. So here’s the best part. The brunch, for Zürich, is really well priced. 42 francs for adults and 2 francs per age of your child. Brunch is from 9:00-13:00. We usually get there at 9 and fill our plates with all the yummy breakfast items like pancakes (the best I have had in Switzerland so far), waffles, rosti, eggs, cheeses, meats, and plenty of desserts. Then, we leave our reserved table (it’s reserved from 9:00-13:00 which is amazing since it can be really cold and raining and it’s so great to have a place for the kids to warm up and eat yummy food) and pick out our favorite pumpkins. Then the kids carve their pumpkins. And then we all return to the lunch buffet which this time included risotto, red cabbage, chicken, noodles with various sauces, and of course pumpkin soup.
Quick Tip For Fussy Foodies
My kids love to eat. But if yours don’t, there are loads of options for eating at Jucker Farm. There is a fire pit to roast sausages or you can buy food from the self-service café that is also the brunch food. There is also a stand making fresh Berliner donuts! You will not go hungry here.
Which Jucker Farm?
I like both Jucker Farm locations, Seegräben and Bächlihof. Seegräben has a lake and Bächlihof in Jona is so close to the Knies Kinderzoo and Rapperswil. I tend to visit the Jona location more often, as it’s just easier for me. The pumpkin sculptures though, seem to be amazing at the Seegräben location. But I love the cozy inside eating area of Bächlihof. It feels like a chalet. But Seegräben is so gorgeous with all glass windows in the eating area. I would recommend comparing for yourself and seeing which you like better. Plus, pumpkins around here go bad so quickly you can never just go one time per pumpkin season.
Choosing Pumpkins
There are so many types, sizes, and colors of pumpkins to choose from. The blue-green colored ones are my absolute favorite. But this year they had yellow carving pumpkins which were seriously gorgeous. But nothing beats a true orange carving pumpkin to carve your jack-o’-lantern.
Carving Pumpkins
One thing I love about Jucker Farm is once the kids choose and pay for their pumpkins, they can carve them at the farm. The farm has lots of tables and carving equipment to use. And the best part? Our kids pulled all the seeds and insides out while outside of our house, keeping the mess away.
Homesick American?
When I’m homesick, Jucker Farm does the trick. Just seeing all the pumpkins and carving them brings me right back to my childhood. It’s a full day of good old family fun on a farm. Is there anything better?
Still Wanting More?
Here is my Jucker Farm post from 2017 when I was 36 weeks pregnant! And here is another post as it looks like we went two weeks later when I was 38 weeks pregnant too. And here is my post from 2016.
This post is sponsored by OMO, cleaning us up after all our pumpkin carving. Of course dirt is good for children, their development, and part of a fun childhood. But since you can’t go to school full of pumpkin seeds, OMO is here to help us out, so thank you OMO family!
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