Pumpkin Season is Just Around the Corner!

Staff Photo by Jeff Depew

The arrival of fall brings changing leaves, warm sweaters, and, for many, the much loved tradition of visiting pumpkin patches and corn mazes. This year’s pumpkins are expected to be ripe around the first week of October and can even begin to be seen growing as early as the first week of September. Usually six to eight pumpkins can be found on each vine.

Local famers at Ballinger Farms stated that they don’t even begin planting their pumpkins until late June or July. They explained that pumpkins are typically planted later, given that they are going to be used in corn mazes. Pumpkins found in grocery stores in early fall have been picked for a few weeks and are typically not as ripe as those found in corn mazes.

For those wondering if the recent heat will affect the pumpkin crop, fear not. Heat is not too much of a factor; rather, farmers are more concerned with too much or too little rain. If they receive too much rain pumpkins can begin to grow mildew on the inside that can cause them to rot if not caught early enough. Pumpkins need a mixture of colder and warmer weather to sprout. If a happy medium can be reached, this tradition will continue to be a favored part of the fall season this year.