Pumpkin yield affected by wet season

By Taylor Desjardins

Pumpkins in Windsor and Essex County are being affected by the wet weather and cold climate this year.

McLeod Farms and Wagner Orchards had difficulty when dealing with the pumpkin crop because of the heavy rain and cold weather.

Helen McLeod, co-owner of McLeod Farms in Cottam Ont., said the ground temperature last spring gave the crop a later start than usual.

“We didn’t get it planted in the beginning of June, like we normally do,” said McLeod. “If we put our seed in, it would have just ended up rotting.”

McLeod said she has noticed every couple years heavy rain falls and drowns the crop.

“Along with the wetness, you get certain diseases, viruses growing that may stay in the ground for years to come,” said McLeod. “Some people may not be able to grow pumpkins on that ground again.”

McLeod said she wouldn’t call it a pumpkin shortage, but usually the pumpkin crop is much larger.

“Normally, we have a lot more to work under, maybe this year because of how the yields are affected, we won’t have that many pumpkins going to waste.”

Pumpkins do not do well in the wet ground because the regular maintenance on the crop becomes a hassle, said Harold Wagner, owner of Wagner Orchards in Lakeshore, Ont.

“Weed control becomes very difficult because we can’t cultivate and spray the weeds,” said Wagner. “Basically we got overrun with weeds because by the time it all dried up by the end of July, it was too late to replant.”

Wagner said his apples benefited from the heavy rain but the quantity of rain that fell is very rare in June and July. He also said they were able to keep ahead of the diseases for the apple orchard but the pumpkins suffered because they were saturated in water.

“Pumpkins are not a profitable thing to grow anyway,” said Wagner.

McLeod said there are still a couple of weeks left and hopes everyone will be able to come out and get that perfect pumpkin.