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.
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