insideKENT Magazine Issue 67 - October 2017 | Page 147

NEWS
THE GROWING TREND OF PYO PUMPKINS
Autumn is on its way and in
recent years this season has
brought a whole new
enterprising opportunity for
farmers...the business of
pumpkin growing.
Every autumn, shops are
awash with the brightly
coloured crops in a way that
was far less common 20
years ago. Taking the lead
from America, Halloween
traditions in Britain grew in
the late 1990s and the trend
for pumpkin carving
gathered pace. British
farmers took note and in the
last few years, they began
offering a new autumn
tradition: pick your own
pumpkin.
For one family-run farm in
Sandling, Maidstone,
Halloween is a core focus
for their business, Pumpkin
Moon, as the owner Charlie
Eckley tells us:
“However wonderful, albeit
hard, the life of a farmer is,
running an ordinary farm
for me simply wasn’t
financially sustainable. After
spending time in America
for my previous job
I became aware of the
growth in Halloween, and
the trend of PYO
Pumpkin. Research showed
it existed in the UK and it
was on the rise, so in June
2016 I took the plunge and
planted 13 types of pumpkin
and squash in a 15-acre field.
Pumpkin Moon was born
and I was soon hooked. The
plants are amazing,
germinating within days,
and soon the fields are a
deep mass of pumpkin
vines. The vibrant yellow
flowers arrive seven weeks
later and it seems every bee
in Kent comes to visit! By
mid-September the leaves
and vines die back, and the
field is transformed into a
sea of orange.”
Now in its second year, Charlie has developed the idea with even more acreage
dedicated to growing over 50 types of pumpkin, squash and gourd. There is a
fantastic maize maze, face painting, Halloween story telling, pumpkin painting,
food stalls and a vintage coffee van.
www.pumpkinmoon.uk
TECHNOLOGY SHOWCASE TEES OFF A NIGHT OF ENTERTAINMENT
Over 100 customers of the Beoshop group were amongst the first in
the country to experience Bang & Olufsen’s latest television after the
Kent-based business hosted a VIP launch event at the London Golf
Club, near Brands Hatch, on 12th September. culminated with one lucky customer, Mrs Satrettin, winning the prize
draw for a £1,500 voucher to spend at the group’s Bang & Olufsen
showrooms in Bexleyheath, Cambridge, Maidstone and Tunbridge
Wells.
As well as being captivated by the amazing OLED 4k picture quality of
the BeoVision Eclipse, guests were treated to a demonstration of the
BeoLab 50 active loudspeaker, a Champagne reception and food
prepared by the prestigious venue’s acclaimed chef. The evening Paul Blake, managing director of the Beoshop group, said: “Such was
the reaction to the BeoVision Eclipse that we took a number of orders
during the event and I’d like to thank all our customers for making it
a fantastic night.”
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