Sherbrooke Record e-Edition

How’s pumpkin season looking?

By Michael Boriero

It is nearly pumpkin-carving season in Quebec, as October, and Halloween, are right around the corner, but a large, plump, misshapen, orange gourd might not be so easy to find this year.

According to several farmers in the Eastern Townships, the pumpkin harvest has been challenging due to the sporadic weather in the province. The mix of cold, hot, incessant rain, and humidity levels have left much to be desired for many pumpkin patches in the region.

Verger Heath Orchard co-owner Chris Rawlings said the last time he checked his pumpkin patch was before the province’s almost nonstop rainfall. He plans to head out to the patch located in Stanstead with his wife on Friday. But he has no idea how the rain affected his crop.

“I did a bit of a count. I walked between two rows of the big ones, and they were averaging about 15 pumpkins per row, so I would have seen about 30 pumpkins walking in between. If all of those were roughly the same, we should have a couple hundred,” Rawlings told The Record.

The humidity even affected his orchard. Rawlings has noticed the maple trees on his property have developed a certain type of fungus. And the apples have developed scabs, which, he noted, is fairly common every summer. But it was harder to control with the unruly weather.

October is also the final month before Rawlings and his orchard go into hibernation. While he may lose some pumpkins to rot, he explained, the pumpkin harvest season is also great for attracting customers in the late fall. Although, he noted, it does come at a significant cost.

“Well it helps because you know the people who are coming for pumpkins will also take a little bit of this and that and the other thing. If you don’t have them, you don’t sell them, but that said, the input is pretty expensive. It’s just another thing that adds to the overall cost,” he said.

Verger Le Gros Pierre Manager Jean-françois Foucault, on the other hand, said the current pumpkin harvest is on track to equal last year’s crop. They are colourful and large, he told The Record, adding he is hoping folks will make the trip to the Compton farm for their pumpkins.

The pumpkin picking option will be available starting in October. And this year there will be a witch watching over her pumpkin patch, according to Foucault, as well as decorating stations He doesn’t know how much pumpkin season brings in, but he knows it makes a difference.

“Honestly, I can’t tell you that. It certainly extends our season. When the apple-picking season starts to slow down, pumpkins for us give us a second life and we’re able to keep going just until the end of October. The last apple picked here is in midoctober,” said Foucault.

Owner David Lafond, the owner of Verger La Pommalbonne, also in Compton, said the humidity has already affected his harvest. The pumpkin harvest began two weeks ago, he explained, and although there are many options available, it hasn’t been a great season.

Unfortunately, it all has to do with weather and timing, Lafond continued, but in the end, the pumpkin picking portion of his business does little to his overall financial growth. Verger familial et Companions Owner Caroline Niquette has also felt the poor harvest, but in a different way.

Niquette told The Record that normally she purchases pumpkins for re-sale from the Plantations Stéphan Perreault in Val-joli. Her operation is mostly geared towards apple picking, but every October she likes to throw pumpkins around her orchard as an added accessory.

She also sells them and in turn offers a type of promotion for the Perreault pumpkin farm. This year, however, Niquette was told there was a shortage of pumpkins and that they weren’t even sure they would be able to provide any to her family farm in Magog. The prices also increased.

“We would put pumpkins in the orchard for the clients and they could do a you-pick but the pumpkins were always a bit isolated, so they were just a bit everywhere in the orchard. This year, unfortunately, there won’t be any, though,” Niquette explained in a phone interview.

She said Perreault was asking for $7 per pumpkin. Niquette was selling the pumpkins for $5 a pop last year. It wasn’t going to add up financially this fall, she explained, as she would have to raise her prices and in a way, gouge her clients who are picking pumpkins with their children.

ONE COLUMN, FOUR VOICES

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2022-09-23T07:00:00.0000000Z

2022-09-23T07:00:00.0000000Z

https://sherbrookerecord.pressreader.com/article/281560884658672

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