Halloween Pumpkin Harvest Shortage Across Northeast America Blamed On Hurricane Irene

Halloween Pumpkin Harvest  Shortage Across Northeast America Blamed On Hurricane Irene

Northeastern states in the US are facing a pretty daunting ‘jack’o'lantern’ shortage this Halloween after violent  Hurricane Irene destroyed thousands of Pumpkin Patches across the land.

Now many wholesale prices have doubled as farmers tenderly nurse their remaining Pumpkin Plants towards a late harvest, while others are desperately trying to buy Pumpkins in from other regions just to cover their growing orders.

One farmer from Keeseville, in upstate New York said:I think there’s going to be an extreme shortage of pumpkins this year.

“I’ve tried buying from people down in the Pennsylvania area.

I’ve tried locally here and I’ve tried reaching across the border to some farmers over in the Quebec area.

“There’s just none around.”

Hurricane Irene struck with a vengeance in late August bringing with her gallons of rain that overflowed rivers and fields along the east Coast of the US and into Southern Canada.

Some entire crops between 15,000 and 20,000 Pumpkins were washed away into lakes.

But it had been a trying year for many Pumpkin farmers before the tropical storms hit after heavy spring storms had lead farmers to put off planting their precious pumpkin seed stock for as long as two-three weeks.

A late harvest alone can be fatal to a farmers livelihood because sales fall after Halloween so wholesalers need to get the pumpkins on their way to stores and otulets by at least mid-September.

With many good pumpkins still hard to find buyers are being advised to make them last longer by washing them with water mixed with a little bleach that will kill any fungus left over from the fields and also keep mold and rotting at bay.

All-in-all it’s going to be a very difficult season for the Northeast  US Pumpkin farmers to provide to their customers by this Halloween.