Halloween has come and gone, the ghosts and ghouls have retired their spook suits until next year and the remaining decorations are starting to come down.
Mark Genito / The Citizen
Pumpkins cut in half lie in a field near Owen Orchard in Sennett.
Pumpkins cut in half lie in a field near Owen Orchard in Sennett.
We're moving on to Thanksgiving now, with Christmas just around the corner. But one thing remains in many a farmer's fields - bright orange pumpkins.
Carving pumpkins seems to be the last remaining vestiges of Halloween. We see them long after the kiddies have collected their candy. So what happens to all the leftover pumpkins that didn't make the cut for jack 'o lanterns?
Many area farmers are thankful they've got enough pumpkins to have extra this year. Last growing season was terrible for pumpkins - far too rainy and wet to grow shapely carving pumpkins. Growers like Gordon Tripp of Owen's Orchards ran out last year.
Tripp planted five acres of pumpkins this Halloween season and charged 20 cents per pound for pre-picked pumpkins and 15 cents for u-pick. He's got a good number of pumpkins still left in the fields, but he's not too worried about them. They generally take care of themselves.
“We just leave them out there. Some will volunteer and grow for next year,” Tripp said.
Tripp says some of his customers will buy the smaller leftover pumpkins for their Thanksgiving pumpkin pies, but there's really no market for bigger pumpkins after Halloween. Some folks come and collect the seeds, splitting the pumpkins open right in the fields. Others buy the extra fruit for deer feed.
“I don't know if it's legal, but deer love pumpkins,” Tripp said.
Kelli Morgan of Morgan's Half Acre Produce on Genesee Street planted six acres of pumpkins this year, which yielded just the right amount of fruit. She doesn't have much leftover, but what is left in the fields will probably be tilled up and left to rot.
“It's not worth the labor to do anything with them,” said Morgan, who charges between 50 cents and $5 for the pumpkins depending on the size.
Some of her customers buy the smaller pumpkins as Thanksgiving centerpieces and some give them to their dogs. Morgan's got a few customers who buy the extra pumpkins for their pigs to play with. Then they're given to the pigs as feed.
Susan Bower of Grisamore Farms in Locke plans on disking the pumpkins up and leaving them in the fields. Sometimes she'll heap the leftover pumpkins into a manure spreader and spread on the seven acres worth of pumpkin patches at the farm.
“They're full of organic matter and it's good for the fields,” Bower said.
Because of the recent rainy weekend weather, those with u-pick operations like Bower and Tripp saw a decline in the number of pumpkins sold. Plus, Bower thought because of the funny weather, the pumpkins didn't look so hot this year.
Many didn't have perfect handles or they had odd spots. Bower said her customers weren't so fussy, but they also sell wholesale to commercial outfits and blemished pumpkins just won't do.
Morgan has seen competition between man-made decorations stiffen for farmers who sell natural decorations. Many people would prefer something easy that lasts.
“People are looking for stuff they can use for five years,” Morgan said. “But about a week before Thanksgiving, a lot of people are looking for their Martha Stewart tabletop decorations.”
While all three farmers have pumpkins remaining, it doesn't necessarily mean it was a bad season.
“It looks like a big waste, but most of them are ones with bad spots or that aren't a good size,” Tripp said. “It's not indicative of the crop that you have.”
Carving pumpkins seems to be the last remaining vestiges of Halloween. We see them long after the kiddies have collected their candy. So what happens to all the leftover pumpkins that didn't make the cut for jack 'o lanterns?
Many area farmers are thankful they've got enough pumpkins to have extra this year. Last growing season was terrible for pumpkins - far too rainy and wet to grow shapely carving pumpkins. Growers like Gordon Tripp of Owen's Orchards ran out last year.
Tripp planted five acres of pumpkins this Halloween season and charged 20 cents per pound for pre-picked pumpkins and 15 cents for u-pick. He's got a good number of pumpkins still left in the fields, but he's not too worried about them. They generally take care of themselves.
“We just leave them out there. Some will volunteer and grow for next year,” Tripp said.
Tripp says some of his customers will buy the smaller leftover pumpkins for their Thanksgiving pumpkin pies, but there's really no market for bigger pumpkins after Halloween. Some folks come and collect the seeds, splitting the pumpkins open right in the fields. Others buy the extra fruit for deer feed.
“I don't know if it's legal, but deer love pumpkins,” Tripp said.
Kelli Morgan of Morgan's Half Acre Produce on Genesee Street planted six acres of pumpkins this year, which yielded just the right amount of fruit. She doesn't have much leftover, but what is left in the fields will probably be tilled up and left to rot.
“It's not worth the labor to do anything with them,” said Morgan, who charges between 50 cents and $5 for the pumpkins depending on the size.
Some of her customers buy the smaller pumpkins as Thanksgiving centerpieces and some give them to their dogs. Morgan's got a few customers who buy the extra pumpkins for their pigs to play with. Then they're given to the pigs as feed.
Susan Bower of Grisamore Farms in Locke plans on disking the pumpkins up and leaving them in the fields. Sometimes she'll heap the leftover pumpkins into a manure spreader and spread on the seven acres worth of pumpkin patches at the farm.
“They're full of organic matter and it's good for the fields,” Bower said.
Because of the recent rainy weekend weather, those with u-pick operations like Bower and Tripp saw a decline in the number of pumpkins sold. Plus, Bower thought because of the funny weather, the pumpkins didn't look so hot this year.
Many didn't have perfect handles or they had odd spots. Bower said her customers weren't so fussy, but they also sell wholesale to commercial outfits and blemished pumpkins just won't do.
Morgan has seen competition between man-made decorations stiffen for farmers who sell natural decorations. Many people would prefer something easy that lasts.
“People are looking for stuff they can use for five years,” Morgan said. “But about a week before Thanksgiving, a lot of people are looking for their Martha Stewart tabletop decorations.”
While all three farmers have pumpkins remaining, it doesn't necessarily mean it was a bad season.
“It looks like a big waste, but most of them are ones with bad spots or that aren't a good size,” Tripp said. “It's not indicative of the crop that you have.”
