BURLINGTON, Vt. (WCAX) – Some Vermont farmers are struggling to save their pumpkin harvests after this summer’s flooding.
Mary Whitcomb’s of Whitcomb’s Family Farm fall starts in the summer with the planting of the pumpkins.
This July, she watched them blossom, grow, and then drown.
“Every time I’d go out there in mud boots, it would be up to my ankles,” said Whitcomb.
This summer’s severe rainstorms left crops across the state soggy or underwater.
At Whitcomb’s Family Farm growing site in Essex, the gourds grew blotchy and soft with a rotting disease called phytophthora.
“Pumpkins are vine plants. They grow along the ground so they don’t like sitting in water, and basically that’s what they did for three or four weeks,” said Whitcomb.
With about 85% of their pumpkins lost, it’s the second year in a row that rain has ruined their yield.
And Whitcomb isn’t the only pumpkin farmer struggling.
Conant’s Riverside Farms in Richmond lost all of its pumpkins to the same disease – their first full loss in over 40 years of farming.
“I miss having a green lawn transform to orange in a day or so,” said owner Deb Conant.
Conant’s had to close for the season.
Meanwhile, Whitcomb’s made up its loss with pumpkins from Vermont and New York farmers.
They say they used to be pumpkin sellers, not buyers, but the tide has turned.
“I think the climate has changed, and it’s I don’t know if this is just a fluke or a trend, but we’ve got to start preparing for it,” said Whitcomb.
Whitcomb’s had to boost pumpkin prices slightly but says customers have been supportive.
As for next year, both Conant and Whitcomb plan to grow in new more rain-resilient fields.