17 September 2025
By Tom Collins
tom@TheCork.ie
A family farm in Killeagh, East Cork, is gaining much attention for its pumpkin picking this year, attracting customers from far and wide, as they aim to educate people on growing and harvesting food.
Pumpkin pickers from all around Ireland have snapped up tickets to Joe’s Farm which produces Joe’s Farm Crisps on the farm – from crop to crisp.
Visitors enjoy a walk around the farm, have some fun picking vegetables, learn about farming and pick their own pumpkin and vegetables to take home.
The initiative allows adults and children to actively engage in harvesting food and start conversations about eating local produce.
Pumpkin picking begins the first weekend of October – the 4th and 5th – and runs each weekend until the end of the month from 10am to 3pm.
The farm also operates guided pumpkin picking school tours where each child gets an empty potato bag and can pick their own vegetables straight from the earth. Along the way, they learn about the business of crisps, from growing to the finished product.
Joe’s farm is run by Joe Burns and his wife Sandra, together with their three children. The family diversified their vegetable farm into making crisps from potatoes, carrot, parsnip and beetroot in 2014. The crisps are seasoned with Achill Island Sea Salt and are gluten-free.
For the last eight years, the farm has been welcoming visitors to the pumpkin picking experience but it has gained much traction recently.
Sandra says: “We are seeing people travelling miles and miles to come to pick pumpkins at our farm. We recently had a bride come home from America to get married and we were delighted that she chose Joe’s Farm to source pumpkins for her wedding for decoration. We are thrilled to see people coming, taking photos and learning about farming and local produce, what’s in season and where it comes from. We have many autumnal photo opportunities around the farm where people can take photographs – we have a carriage, a love heart, a spider.
“I’m always delighted to hear stories about the experience, seeing videos of children washing and preparing the vegetables at home afterwards and most importantly eating what they have picked. I love hearing from parents who call or write to us afterwards to say their kids wouldn’t eat vegetables until they came to Joe’s Farm and they picked them themselves. It’s rewarding to see.
“It’s a busy time for us – although it’s always busy on a farm!”
Joe’s Farm has a farm shop, a coffee station and they serve their homegrown potatoes as freshly cooked chips onsite.
More information and booking details can here found, at www.joesfarmcrisps.ie or to get in touch specifically about school bookings, email Sandra at sandra@joesfarmcrisps.ie