Philip Handley runs Mostyn Kitchen Garden, a Flintshire horticulture business, and he believes admission fees, catering and other sales and attractions could take the income potential for farmers as high as £30,000 an acre.

Philip grows a wide range of produce in the walled garden on the Mostyn Estate. In 2021, he embarked on a Farming Connect focus farm project, exploring the potential for developing a PYO pumpkin enterprise, with support from Chris Creed, a consultant at agricultural adviser ADAS.

Pumpkins can be direct-drilled, but Philip opted to cultivate seedlings first, and then plant them by hand on 0.5 acres. He admits it was labour-intensive.

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"By planting by hand, we made it as hard a job as we possibly could,'' he laughs. Converting a cultivator, such as a second-hand cabbage planter, could reduce labour input, he suggests. But hand-planting wasn't without its benefits. "It gave the best results,'' Philip reports.

He planted 2,500 plants in 2,000 square metres.

A WhatsApp group of growers and agronomists, brought together by the growers' network Tyfu Cymru, proved very useful. "There were growers and agronomists in the group, always willing and able to support each other and respond to any questions,'' said Philip.

He set aside 13 days in October (the autumn half term and the two weekends leading up to that week) to open the PYO venture to visitors. However, the attraction was so popular he sold out of pumpkins within six days, without spending anything on advertising – promoting it through social media channels instead.

Pick-you-own pumpkins at Mostyn Kitchen Gardens.

To keep footfall and traffic to a manageable level, Eventbrite was used for pre-bookings. Philip restricted it to 10 vehicles every 30 minutes, but visitors enjoyed themselves so much, they often didn't leave after their allotted half-hour.

He kept costs to a minimum – cutting barrels in half for people to use as toboggans to collect their pumpkins from the field, and using his six existing wheelbarrows for the job, too.

The pumpkins that proved the most sought-after were the more unusual varieties - the white- and the green-skinned. Five per cent of the crop was white, but if he grew pumpkins again, Philip says he would increase this proportion to 15%. Offering a selection of sizes is important, too: "People want a choice,'' he says.

The pumpkins cost £500 for the seed and materials, but that sum doesn't include labour costs. "The grower either has to put the hours in themselves, or pay for extra staff; that will be particularly necessary during sales period,'' added Philip.

Not only did the pumpkins generate a significant income, but it increased sales of the chutneys, jams, vinegars and cocktail syrups Philip and his wife, Debbie, produce at Mostyn Kitchen Garden.

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He could also have generated further sales by offering refreshments, but handed that opportunity over to two charities.

Philip says it was a very valuable process working with Farming Connect on the project and benefitting from the input of a specialist through that. He is now planning to provide a PYO sunflower experience this summer, and also other flowers and soft fruit.

"We will be spread it over the summer. That week in October was pretty intense, although it did get it over and done with.''

• Farming Connect is delivered by Menter a Busnes and Lantra Wales, and funded by the Welsh Government and the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development.