HALLOWEEN PUMPKINS WILL BE TOO SMALL TO CARVE THIS YEAR: DROUGHT HAS LEFT GOURDS UP TO 40% SMALLER
Halloween pumpkins will be too small to carve this year after drought stunted their growth.
Farmers have warned that the popular gourds are up to 40 per cent smaller and have thicker skins, making it harder to cut spooky shapes into them.
Landowners have been forced to harvest the much smaller pumpkins this month and into October, following record–breaking temperatures and prolonged dry spells this summer.
Between May and September, Britain recorded 40 days where temperatures exceeded 30C – the threshold at which pumpkin growth slows considerably.
Two–thirds of England and Wales were also placed under official drought conditions, with the driest July in 190 years.
Since smaller pumpkins are harder to cut, experts are now suggesting children simply draw or paint on them instead.
'The weather has had a larger than normal effect on our crop of pumpkins,' David Coulter, from Home Farm Pumpkins, told the Daily Mail. 'Both lack of moisture and high temperatures have caused a reduction in pumpkin numbers.'
He explained that 'kids might struggle carving into them' thanks to their thicker skin this year.
'In the future, pumpkin growing will become increasingly difficult if weather patterns continue like this,' he added. 'A perfect growing season for pumpkins is warm and wet weather, with good sunshine late summer to help the crop turn orange.'
Ketan Dave, from Barfoots – one of Britain's leading pumpkin growers – said children should draw on smaller pumpkins instead.
Meanwhile Gavin Lane, the president of the Country Land and Business Group, urged parents to use the tiny gourds as an opportunity to teach children about climate change.
'This is an opportune moment for parents to talk to their children about the effects of the weather on growing crops and the potential difficulty of growing vegetables in the future,' he told the Daily Telegraph.
Three years ago pumpkins were larger than usual thanks to a soggy summer. Steve Whitworth, commercial manager at Oakley Farms, said the wet weather in July and August of 2023 was 'perfect' for growing pumpkins.
However the following year, in 2024, pumpkin crops were devastated by an 'army of slugs'.
Pumpkins are not the only crop affected by the drought and heatwave this year.
Potatoes have also had a poor–quality harvest with spuds being so small that McCain, the oven–chip giant, has been buying up last year's stock to keep its operations running.
Apples are also smaller and have started falling earlier.
Cider makers have warned the heatwave has resulted in sweeter pears and apples, which could result in more alcoholic ciders.
Sparkling wine producers are now eyeing up vineyards in England due to weather conditions in the south of the country.
Why do we carve pumpkins at Halloween?
- The tradition of pumpkin carving is believed to date back to Halloween's pre–Christian origins in the pagan festival of Samhain, meaning 'summers end'.
- This festival celebrated the beginning of winter and was thought to be the time when the spirit world made contact with the physical.
- In Ireland, a traditional folk tale warned of Jack of the Lantern (Jack O'lantern) who was believed to walk carrying a turnip filled with a burning coal.
- It became a tradition to carve turnip lanterns with horrific faces to scare off Jack O'lantern and other wandering spirits.
- When Irish immigrants began to travel to America in large numbers they took their tradition with them and soon found that pumpkins, which are native to America, made excellent Jack O'lanterns.
- From Irish immigrants the practice grew and spread into the tradition of carving pumpkins that we know today.
