The day started early. At 6.30 p.m. Philipp Dahlman makes his way to the pumpkin field. After a while there was to be breakfast and then we started preparing for the day. Eventually, many families wanted to hold a piece of the coveted plant. “In the few months I worked there, we had thousands of visitors,” he recalls.
In 2007 Dahlman briefly helped out on a pumpkin farm in Canada—southeast of Vancouver to be exact. “I have always been very interested in Canada. The farm is very idyllic,” says the trained gardener, who originally hails from Frondenberg but now lives in Wicked.
Hay wagon driving as main activity
On the recommendation of a friend, he contacted farm owners with whom he was quickly on the same wavelength. October means classic pumpkin season not only in the United States, but also in Canada, because Halloween is just around the corner.
The focus of his activity was the traditional and popular “Hayride” – a hay wagon ride. Visitors sit on rectangular bales of hay or straw that are carried on trailers. These are pulled by a tractor controlled by Dahlman.
“Trailers were pulled through the pumpkin field by trailers. We stopped at the pumpkin field and visitors could pick pumpkins. It’s a lot of fun, especially for the kids,” reports Dahlman, who is currently working as a gardening consultant for the NRW Residential Property Association.
stuck with full gear
After families gathered their pumpkins, the plants became
Billed by size then it was time to “sit down” again and the visitors were kicked off the field.
One visit made a special impression on Vikander: “Once I got stuck with a tractor and two full trailers. After all the viewers were off the trailers, I was able to play the trailer again for free.”
He would like to go back to Canada one more time, but it hasn’t happened yet. But Dahlman also has a passion for pumpkins in his country. He has grown plants in his parents’ garden several times.
