Gourd grief: Bad growing season means pumpkin shortfall for some growers

Posted By TIFFANY MAYER , STANDARD STAFF

Posted 11 months ago

There's something very scary happening in Jerry Howell's pumpkin patch.

At least half the veteran gourd grower's crop of the Halloween fixtures has disappeared, thanks to a frightful growing season of rain, more rain and very little sun.

"It's funny because last year, we had a wet year and we had a bumper crop. This year, we planted in a different field and where it was flat, there are no pumpkins," said Howell, who farms in Fonthill.

"It looks like we already picked," said Warner, who has grown pumpkins for 20 years.

Pumpkins failed to materialize on many of her vines. Others succumbed to ghastly wet-weather diseases such as downy mildew. About 40 per cent of her crop has been wiped out, she said.

The gourd harvest isn't looking good throughout most of the province, said Elaine Roddy, vegetable crop specialist with the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs.

She blames it on the rain -- Niagara was one of the wetter pumpkin-growing regions -- but also the lack of sun. Bees, whose job is to pollinate, aren't "big on being out on an overcast day."

"It definitely is a light crop this year," Roddy said.

To make up for any shortfalls, both Howell and Warner will ship in pumpkins from Norfolk County, where sandy soils have spared patches.

Roddy isn't predicting a provincewide pumpkin shortage yet. If it stays dry through the harvest, there should be enough gourds to go around, she said.

"It could become an issue later in the season, but it's too soon to tell," Roddy said. "The thing with pumpkins is they tend to show up."

All signs were pointing to a bounty of the bulbous squash earlier this year. Howell said all of his plants germinated. Then Mother Nature turned into a witch, drowning many of his fields.

Scarier still, is the colour of some of his pumpkins. They're coming off the field green because of the lack of sun, but he said they will ripen to a nice orange in time for Halloween.

Where drainage was good, Howell's pumpkins lapped up the moisture, growing large. Warner said she also has plenty in the medium to large range.

She said she always plants an extra field in case something goes awry. Last year, the spare patch wasn't picked. This year, it may keep her in pumpkins but not money.

"Of course the product margin is going down because there's not enough to sell," Warner said, adding her input costs will also carve away at her bottom line. "With the economy, I can't raise prices accordingly, otherwise, my sales would go down."

tmayer@

stcatharinesstandard.ca

Topic guidelines: We welcome your thoughts, stories and information related to this article. Please stay on topic and be respectful of others. Keep the conversation appropriate for interested readers.