Mustard and ketchup, peanut butter and jelly – pumpkins and succulents? Get ready for another inseparable duo through Tangleweed Farms’ succulent pumpkin class on Thursday, Oct. 7 at Wolf Creek Brewery.
Susie Cooke, a Saugus native and the main organizer of the event, said that class attendees can expect to learn how to take care of succulents, how to construct the succulent pumpkin and how to ensure that the succulent will last. She described succulents as “an old friend that you haven’t seen in a long time.”
“When you start seeing them again, everything goes back to normal, like you were never separated,” she said, then described succulents as “quite forgiving” for they do not need to be watered as frequently as other plants. These succulent pumpkins can serve as house decorations for Halloween and Thanksgiving, but can actually be kept around longer than that. Cooke said she will also teach attendees how to grow the succulent pumpkin in a pot.
Cooke became interested in succulents around 10 years ago. She recalled her mother-in-law having a succulent pumpkin.
“Oh! I can do that,” she quickly thought to herself at the time.
Cook started by creating succulent arrangements for her mother-in-law and her friends and had the idea of doing a class on them. Based in Tehachapi, Tangleweed Farms is its third year of doing succulent arrangement classes. Given her familiarity with the Santa Clarita Valley, Cooke decided to do a class in Santa Clarita due to Tehachapi being somewhat small regarding turnout. According to Cooke, the Succulent Pumpkin class at Wolf Creek Brewery has “blown up” with 64 people signed up. Normally, there’s around 30 attendees, she said.
Cooke and her husband Scott purchased what became Tangleweed Farms four years ago, looking for a home with more space for their children after previously living in Santa Barbara. Prior, Scott and Susie lived in a normal track house on the coast in Santa Barbara. The farm had previously been in operation since 1997. Under the Cookes, the farm makes use of “practices from 19th century farmers [that] were revitalized in the 1960s. This allows maximum yield of organic produce.”
Tangleweed Farms offer a variety of different activities, such as “Pumpkins and Picnics” which offers a charcuterie board for a group of two, four or six. Cooke stated that her farm has also put on different succulent arrangement classes, like a red truck planter, a wreath, a wheelbarrow, and a moon phase arrangement. Additionally, Tangleweed Farms also offers photo sessions.
“Our lavender and wildflower fields, green house, rustic buildings, and pink couch make an excellent backdrop for family photos,” their website reads.
October and November is when Tangleweed Farms typically receives a higher volume of requests from photographers to use their farm as a backdrop for photos, said Cooke. They also have their own store selling various products such as soy candles, honey, house plants and even a fresh produce box for the spring.
Tangleweed Farms recently opened their Pumpkin Patch, which is open from Friday-Sunday. To learn more about the various events that Tangleweed Farms has to offer, visit their website at https://www.tangleweedfarms.com/.
Admission for Thursday’s class is $30. To register for the Succulent Pumpkin class, visit https://www.tangleweedfarms.com/events-1/succulent-pumpkin-at-wolf-creek-brewery.
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Julianna Lozada
Born in Danville, Illinois, and moving to Reims, France, for college, Julianna Lozada's lived in Valencia her entire life. She's currently a student with Sciences Po Paris and Columbia University pursuing a dual degree program specializing in politics and government, international relation, and human rights. During high school, she worked with political campaigns, sustainability, student-run activist groups and voting/elections which influenced her choosing to study politics. With a piano background, Julianna's also become interested in the ways in which politics and social movements intersect with music and how artistic mediums can enact change. After college, she hopes to get a Masters in political journalism and work internationally.
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