Social Media Sites equals Confusion

I have been looking at various ways of advertisiting for the Scarecrow Forest and I never knew that there was this many social media sites.  I have tried a few and my wish is that they would join together and be one.  I'm guess that wish would be the same as wishing that all countries would join together and be one.  So I've decided to just focus on the easier ones and put my time and energy into them.

Social Media Sites:

Twitter:  The Scarecrow Forest is not on it and will never be on it.  LOL.  I don't understand hashtags and tweets.  This one confuses me to much so I'm not ready to decode this one.

Google Plus:  I have tried this one and I've found people weren't engaging on the Scarecrow Forest's page so I have let this one go static.  If people do stumble on the page all the information on the Scarecrow Forest is there.

Facebook:  I regularly use this one and have two pages: The Scarecrow Forest and Penner Pumpkins.  I find facebook easy to use, but find it hard to get people to engage with and interact with the content I post.

Tumblr:  This is a new one I have recently started experimenting with and time will tell if it works.  You can find us here: The Scarecrow Forest.

Instagram:  This is another new one I am experimenting with.  I love taking pictures and looking at pictures so I'm thinking this one should be fun.  To see pictures I have posted search for The Scarecrow Forest or Penner Pumpkins.

Blogs:  As you can tell I don't regularly blog.  I love writing, but find it hard finding relevant content to write about.

Check out The Scarecrow Forest on the various social media sites and please don't be afraid to follow, like, comment, or whatever you are suppose to do the site.  I love when people engage with the content I post.

Lorissa

Will my pumpkin rot?

You found the perfect time pumpkin.  The only problem is, it's Oct. 1st.  Will the pumpkin last til Halloween?  Yes, if you store it right.

Tip 1:  Don't put it on cement or good wood.  Find a piece of cardboard or an old piece of wood.
Tip 2:  When it goes below 0 and the pumpkin is outside, cover with a towel or blanket.

For more tips check out these websites:
Storing pumpkins
More tips

Make sure to check out Penner Pumpkins for all things pumpkins.

Lorissa

What kind of Pumpkin to use for baking?

I did an experiment to see what is the best pumpkin for cooking and baking.  I used:

1. Cinderella Pumpkin
2. White Pumpkin [Lumina]
3. Pie or Sugar Pumpkin
4. Standard Carving Pumpkin.

Best color goes to Cinderella.
Best taste goes to Pie or Sugar Pumpkin.
Best texture [not runny and grainy] goes to Pie or Sugar Pumpkin.
Best to peel Pie or Sugar Pumpkin.

As you can see I clearly liked the Pie or Sugar Pumpkin best.  These pumpkins are bred to have a higher sugar content and less water.  The next one I would recommend is Cinderella.  It has a beautiful color, was ok to peel [not easy, but not overly difficult], and was slightly on the more runny side.

I didn't even attempt to puree the white pumpkin.  Seed catalogues state that white pumpkins are orange on the inside, while this one was white.  I'm not about to use white pumpkin flesh in baking.

At the Forest we make Pumpkin pie, Chocolate Chip Pumpkin cookies, and Pumpkin Ginger Snaps so we do go through a lot of pumpkin.

Lorissa

Gourd vs Squash vs Pumpkin

I was at a 2 day Farmers' market in Winnipeg.  The most common question I got was "How do you cook a gourd?"  Well you can't cook a gourd they are just for decoration.  Now what is the difference between a squash and pumpkin, that's a bit tricky and I had to do some research online to really understand the difference.

What is the difference:

Here is a good link to check out Pumpkin vs Gourd vs Squash.

Well to confuse things even more a pumpkin is considered a squash.

Pumpkins are generally orange and round and can be carved.

Squash come in all shapes, sizes, and colors.

Basically you can't eat gourds, but you can eat pumpkins and squash.

Lorissa

"Scare"Crow Night.

October 18 and 25 from 7 pm to 10 pm come to the Forest and have some fun in the dark.  Walk the path in the dark and see what you might bump into.  After the walk in the dark, take a zip down the zip line in the dark.  After you've been scared come and sit by the fire while sipping a hot chocolate.  Admission is $11.50 per person.

This is a children friendly event.  There is no bats, blood, skeletons, etc. anywhere in the Forest.  At the Forest we believe in wholesome family friendly fun.  Make sure to bring a flashlight when coming down.

For more information please check our website at Penner Pumpkins.


Lorissa

What does $8.00 get you?

So what does $8.00 get you???  It gets you 3 to 7 hours of fun at the Scarecrow Forest.  There is so much to do at the Forest and a lot of fun to be had.

What kind of fun can you have:

• slide into a giant corn box or bury someone in the corn.
• for the little ones there is a 5 and under kiddie corral and a mini bale pile that has a slide.
• Take a 15 to 20 minute walk in the Forest and see all the Scarecrows.
• Race each other on our side by side slides. 
• Run up and down our hill.
• We have two HUGE bale piles that children love to play on.  One bale pile has 3 slides on it.
• Throughout the Forest there are sandboxes for the children to dig in.
• Take a look at our 10 goats, 4 guinea fowl, 4 sheep, 3 horses, 2 sheep, and a ton of chickens and a few chicks.  Also wandering our yard is Mr. Chick and some cats.  In the gift shop you will find some adorable kittens.
• Milk Besty the cow [simulated milking cow]
• Play on some tire structures.

There is so much to do at the Forest so make sure you come earlier in the day so you can fit all the fun in.

Hope to see at the Scarecrow Forest.

Lorissa Penner

Ticketed attractions 2013

At the Forest admission is $8.00 per person to get in and on top of that you can buy tickets.  Tickets can be use on:

                                                 Pumpkins painting [One and Two Tickets]

 Let your inner artist come out.  Create a master piece on a pumpkin.  It's best to paint a pumpkin first, so that it has time to dry before you go home.  Some children love dumping on the paint.





                                                              Pony Ride  [Two Tickets]

Come take a ride on Jenny or Spud down a beautiful trail in our Forest.

Paintball Target [Two Tickets]

Take you best shot at a car and some hanging pots.  Who is the better shot??

Zipline [One Ticket]

It's 20 feet tall and 200 feet long.  Everyone wears a helmet and gets harnessed up.  We've had an 18 month all the way up to an 80 go on it.  Come take a thrilling ride in the Forest.




Duck Races [One Ticket]

On your mark.....Get set......Ready.....  GO!!!!  After you are done racing your ducks you can take them home.

Tractor Train Ride [One Ticket]

Come take a ride on our train, which is perfect for 1 years of age up to 101 years of age.  New this year is our Farm Safari Train Path.  You never know what you may see on the path....

Corn Cannon [One Ticket]

You get three tennis balls to shoot at a barn.  There is a bull in one window, a cat in another, and many other animals.  What can you hit??

Stuff Your Own Scarecrow [7 tickets]

Full some overalls with straw.  Paint a face on a pumpkin and put a hat on top and you have yourselves a scarecrow.

Lorissa Penner