A crop so waterlogged, it's scary
Al Berard headed into his fields one morning only to discover that one of his beloved 500-pound pumpkins had burst like a balloon stuck on the nozzle of a garden hose. Then it happened again. And again.
Each time, he knew the reason: Another one of his prize-winning pumpkins had taken in so much water from the rains that inundated New England this summer that it had cracked and popped along the stem and ribs.
"Like I've said for years: They're going to grow, or they're going to blow, and both instances happened," said Berard of Sanford, Maine, whose gargantuan gourds have taken top honors 12 times at the state's Pumpkin and Squash Weigh-In.
Pumpkin farmers from Maine to Massachusetts are reporting that the unusually wet summer has produced one of the worst crops in years. The big ones are busting, and the rest of the crop is smaller than last year, with more pumpkins that are puny, rotted, and blighted with fungus.
"Your heart sinks," said Stanley Brzoska of Pumpkin Valley Farm in Southwick, Mass., who is harvesting 16 tons of pumpkins, down from 40 tons most years. "You say to yourself your hands are tied, and there's nothing you can do about it."
The dismal crop has disappointed not only competitive growers, but the owners of hundreds of small family farm stands who rely on pumpkin sales to make ends meet.
Ben Nottermann, 26, who runs Ben's Pumpkins in East Hardwick, Vt., said this year's crop is among the worst since he started growing pumpkins at age 6. Most years, he harvests 4,000 to 6,000 pumpkins, a bounty he said funded a "very large part" of his bachelor's degree in forestry science at the University of Maine. This year, his numbers are down and his gourds, sadly, are still green.
"Weather plays a very large factor because pumpkins are pollinated by bees, and bees don't fly when it's raining," he said.
Cris Carabeau, who earns money for Christmas presents by growing pumpkins at Windsong Farm in Tinmouth, Vt., usually harvests enough to fill a large hay wagon. This year, she said, she may not fill half the wagon. One pumpkin patch is barren, she said, and one variety - called Mr. Wrinkles - produced not a single pumpkin, wrinkly or otherwise.
"It looks pretty abysmal: not many pumpkins and quite a few pumpkins that are real soft and rotten," Carabeau said. "I've got a few good ones, but it's nothing like normal."
Pumpkins are not just icons of autumn, as much a harbinger of the season as crisp weather and apple cider; they also generate hundreds of thousands of dollars for New England farms, agriculture officials say. Massachusetts counts 510 pumpkin farms; Maine, 335; Vermont, 211; New Hampshire, 210; and Rhode Island, 68.
"There have definitely been some losses in some places due to flooding, and there have been problems because of the excess moisture," said Lorraine S. Merrill, New Hampshire's agriculture commissioner. "But there are still a lot of good pumpkins out there."
Allandale Farm in Brookline, for example, reaped an "incredible bumper crop" - 18 tons of pumpkins - smashing expectations, said Jim Buckle, a farmer there. "They're nice: hard as rocks, good stems, nice color," said Buckle, who attributed the success to raised soil beds that drained rainwater.
Many growers, however, were not as fortunate.
Boston received 17 inches of rain, 6 inches more than average, in the prime gourd-growing months of June, July, August, and September, according to the National Weather Service. Concord, N.H., received 22.5 inches, more than twice the average for those months. The rainfall did not set records, but it was "certainly wetter than normal," said Bill Simpson, a Weather Service meteorologist.
The precipitation washed away nutrients and fungicides, rotted some pumpkins, and overfed others. Fungi and mildew proliferated.
"I've been farming here for over 30 years, and this is the wettest summer I've had," said Vince Blandini, who lost half his pumpkin crop at Bly Farm in Wolfeboro, N.H. "Some of the fields got washed out, and, of course, with all the rain, it leached out the fertilizer."
Brzoska said some of his pumpkins hosted a fungus that made them "look like you coated them with wet shaving cream."
"It's sickening," he said.
As competitive growers anticipate the Topsfield Fair on Oct. 3, considered the Super Bowl of gourd-growing, many doubt that anyone will smash the world record - 1,689 pounds - set last year by Joe Jutras of North Scituate, R.I.
"I'll be lucky if I make the top 20," said Jim Beauchemin, a grower from Goffstown, N.H., who is nurturing a 1,000-pounder for the fair. Still, he said, "As terrible as it's been, there are still some monsters hidden in the suburbs that could surprise."
And growers say they know that part of the challenge of farming is contending with the unknown. Even though this year was soaked with rain, many hope that next year will bring sunnier, drier weather, perfect for growing golden, globular gourds.
"Some years you get a crop that's better than normal; some years you don't," Blandini said. "That's what we always say: We'll try again next year." 