Craving for America? You can leave for the United States without taking a plane. In Pignataro Maggiore, in the province of Caserta, there is “The Pumpkin Garden” with the first “pumpkin patch” in Europe designed by Emily Turino and the giant corn maze 'infested' by wizards and witches for Halloween. Only for this occasion will you be able to enter after sunset and have fun among tricks and treats, ghosts, monsters and haunted pumpkins.
Everything is immersed in “glass gem corn”, a particular variety of corn planted in ancient times by Native Americans and “mums” or chrysanthemum plants, because in the States they are a symbol of happiness and are given as gifts on special occasions such as Mother's Day. Wrapped in a star-spangled atmosphere, here is the porch, the barn, the typical red carts, the open “pick up” van seen in many films and TV series, the animal farm with the alpacas, the giant rabbits, the Shetland ponies and the cross-bred donkeys that give milk.
At the pumpkin patch, you can choose your favorite pumpkin to unleash your creativity and take part in carving or painting workshops. More than 90 pumpkins of 58 varieties are planted in the garden. Along the way, you can stop at the themed bar to enjoy sweets and pumpkin spice latte, a fragrant cappuccino made with the secret “pumpkin spice”, a delicious blend of five spices, also used for drinks, cookies and autumn cakes such as “pumpkin bread”.
The pumpkin patch is a family tradition that is deeply rooted in the States and that thanks to the Turino family has been successfully revived in Campania for years. The beauty of this place, in fact, increases even more if you think about how it was born. It is a promise of love that the founder Fernando Turino made many years ago to his Elvira, to convince her to move from New England to Italy and marry him.
They had three children, Emily, Raffaele, Antonio, who grew up living also in Connecticut where in the fall, they went to choose the pumpkin to carve and so these all-American rituals arrived in Italy in Pignataro Maggiore. There is no lack of attention to social issues, such as the rainbow set up with pumpkins of all colors to raise awareness on the theme of diversity, the house with pink pumpkins to remember the prevention of breast cancer and the house with red pumpkins dedicated to women victims of violence.
"In our corner of America we have also adopted the famous pumpkin Spookley - explains Emily Turino - because it fights bullying and all forms of discrimination. The story of Spookley, marginalized for its shape, teaches children the beauty of diversity and in the new store you can buy its books". Every year the garden welcomes more than 30 thousand visitors from all over Italy and among the novelties of this edition: the 3D mural created by the street artist Vito Mercurio, student and collaborator of Kurt Wenner, creator of 3D street art.
Article published on 29 October 2022 - 14:39
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