It's the Great Glass Pumpkin Patch
So last month I headed out to Boston for the MIT Glass Pumpkin Patch. Its an annual sale held on the MIT campus every fall. Its a fundraiser for their glass lab which is an extra class the students there can take to get a different perspective on some concepts that they would ordinarily only study conceptually. Its a very popular class and they have to hold a lottery for it. The money raised goes to buying all the equipment and materials the lab needs so the program can keep on going.
So as promised, here are pictures from our visit to the MIT Glass Pumpkin Patch last month. Warning, IMAGE heavy!
Although we had heard about the pumpkin patch, we had no idea what to expect and their facebook page didn't provide any additional information except a comment from one person indicated they started handing out tickets around 6:30 AM. We had no interest in getting up that early so we just decided to get there at 9:30 AM and chance it. We convinced ourselves we just wanted to see what it was all about and if we couldn't get a pumpkin, that would be okay.
We got there and there were a good number of people milling about. We found the person passing out numbers but were told we didn't need to stand in line at that point, someone would direct us. So we walked around the exterior of the pumpkin patch, which was roped off and checked out the pumpkins.
Then at a few minutes before 10, a very organized woman started grouping people by their numbers. This went very quickly and as soon as everyone was grouped, they started letting people in. The hardcore people at the front of the line had boxes and laundry baskets with them lined with blankets and they went right to the pumpkins they had already scoped out and started scooping them up. The rest of us followed in orderly and started looking around for the *right* pumpkin.
It was a very polite crowd. There was no grabbing or snatching pumpkins out from under people. There was lots of "oh no, you take it" "oh no, I insist, please you take it" comments going on.
A closer look at some of the pumpkins in their clusters.
This pair of clear & green pumpkins were probably my favorite. You might wonder at the price but size did not dictate the price of these pumpkins. Some of the smallest pumpkins were actually the most expensive. They were priced based on how difficult they were to make and the wavy sort of lines that maybe you can see in the glass, that makes them much harder to make and thus more pricey.
I ended up getting a small blue pumpkin. I had previously decided $80 was my limit for a pumpkin because that was the if I drop the pumpkin and break it someday I won't be too traumatized over its loss cost factor. I ended up finding one I liked for $60. Hopefully I don't drop it!
A look back to the patch as we were leaving. There were still lots of people there and pumpkins for sale.
It was a very fun event. I can see where it gets addictive. A good number of people attending clearly were regulars who were trying to find another pumpkin for their collection. Some people were just visiting the campus that morning and happened upon it. And other like ourselves had flown in just to attend. This is something I'd want to attend again. Even if you don't purchase a pumpkin its still fun to wander around and check them out and enjoy the atmosphere.
So as promised, here are pictures from our visit to the MIT Glass Pumpkin Patch last month. Warning, IMAGE heavy!
Although we had heard about the pumpkin patch, we had no idea what to expect and their facebook page didn't provide any additional information except a comment from one person indicated they started handing out tickets around 6:30 AM. We had no interest in getting up that early so we just decided to get there at 9:30 AM and chance it. We convinced ourselves we just wanted to see what it was all about and if we couldn't get a pumpkin, that would be okay.
We got there and there were a good number of people milling about. We found the person passing out numbers but were told we didn't need to stand in line at that point, someone would direct us. So we walked around the exterior of the pumpkin patch, which was roped off and checked out the pumpkins.
Then at a few minutes before 10, a very organized woman started grouping people by their numbers. This went very quickly and as soon as everyone was grouped, they started letting people in. The hardcore people at the front of the line had boxes and laundry baskets with them lined with blankets and they went right to the pumpkins they had already scoped out and started scooping them up. The rest of us followed in orderly and started looking around for the *right* pumpkin.
It was a very polite crowd. There was no grabbing or snatching pumpkins out from under people. There was lots of "oh no, you take it" "oh no, I insist, please you take it" comments going on.
A closer look at some of the pumpkins in their clusters.
This pair of clear & green pumpkins were probably my favorite. You might wonder at the price but size did not dictate the price of these pumpkins. Some of the smallest pumpkins were actually the most expensive. They were priced based on how difficult they were to make and the wavy sort of lines that maybe you can see in the glass, that makes them much harder to make and thus more pricey.
I ended up getting a small blue pumpkin. I had previously decided $80 was my limit for a pumpkin because that was the if I drop the pumpkin and break it someday I won't be too traumatized over its loss cost factor. I ended up finding one I liked for $60. Hopefully I don't drop it!
A look back to the patch as we were leaving. There were still lots of people there and pumpkins for sale.
It was a very fun event. I can see where it gets addictive. A good number of people attending clearly were regulars who were trying to find another pumpkin for their collection. Some people were just visiting the campus that morning and happened upon it. And other like ourselves had flown in just to attend. This is something I'd want to attend again. Even if you don't purchase a pumpkin its still fun to wander around and check them out and enjoy the atmosphere.