Joyce Fulton said this year brought a good crop at Fulton Farms near Troy. “It was a little frightening with three-digit temperatures during blossoming time,” she said of the pumpkins. “I would say things definitely worked in our favor.”
That’s because Fulton’s has an irrigation system that provided water to the pumpkins during days on end without rain, said Fulton’s husband, Bill. The farm doubled the irrigation this year from the usual three to four times to a half dozen.
“If you don’t keep them irrigated, you will get little ones,” Bill Fulton said.
The farm has 100 acres of pumpkins, and he’s happy with the big crop, Bill Fulton said.
The farm has a good wholesale business and plenty for sale on the retail side at the Fulton Farm Market on Ohio 202, he said.
Barbara Miller, whose family owns The Pumpkin Barn on Fairground Road near Xenia, said the farm lost 60 percent of its pumpkin crop this year. It has pumpkins for sale, but cannot offer a you-pick option this year.
“Pumpkins are made of water. When you don’t get any, pumpkins don’t grow,” Miller said. The farm does not have irrigation.
The heaviest pumpkin they harvested this year was 24 pounds, much lighter than other years, Miller said. The family took over the pumpkin farm seven years ago, with 2012 being the most disappointing year so far, she said.
Bob Ullrich, owner of Hidden Valley Fruit Farm, on North Ohio 48, Lebanon, has about 30 acres of pumpkins, about one third which were irrigated.
“We have really nice pumpkins,” he said. “Our yields in the irrigated grounds have been terrific. It is just the opposite in other fields because there was not enough water.”
Ullrich has owned the farm since 1978. In addition to pumpkins, he grows apples, peaches and strawberries, among other crops.
There’s no irrigation at Meadow View Growers, New Carlisle, but Scott Robinson isn’t complaining about his pumpkins.
“Our crop was good. We have rich bottomland that holds moisture. We were surprised by how well we did, with the drought,” said Robinson, Meadow View co-owner and retail manager.
At the McMonigle Farm on Franklin-Madison Road, Middletown, the home of a Pumpkin Fest, the crop is about 40 percent smaller, said Diana McMonigle.
With only 50 to 60 percent germination of seed this year, she said she was worried about the crop and its numbers. “What happened was pumpkins didn’t have a lot of competition, so the pumpkins that did pop out look nice,” McMonigle said of the around three acres planted with pumpkins.
“With the recession and the economy I am trying to offer a place for families where they can have fun and not break the bank,” McMonigle said.
Many growers offer visitors more than pumpkins. Over the past few years, they’ve added hayrides, corn mazes, food, music and other entertainment.
The Pumpkin Farm offers an entertainment area featuring activities one could do on a farm. There are slides going into a corn pit and corn and straw mazes along with a concession stand.
The goal of the farm, Miller said, goes beyond the pumpkins. “This is for people to come out and connect with their kids,” she said.
Ullrich said he initially had concerns about his corn maze, but in the end it came out OK. In some areas including eastern Indiana, mazes were not opened this year due to the drought’s affect on the corn crop.
Hidden Valley earlier this month hosted a cider festival and has Fall Fun Days with entertainment, craft booths and petting zoos among activities.
Fulton Farms also offers entertainment including hayrides. That business was good the first two weekends in October, Bill Fulton said, attributing attendance to “more fall like weather.”
Retail sales this year have been good overall, he said, adding, “I guess people got tired of the economy being bad and are out spending money anyway.”
Miller said her husband, a full-time farmer, said he has not seen a year like this since 1984.
“The heat with no rain, it just riddled everything,” Miller said. She said she is looking forward to Jan. 1, and what she hopes is a better year in 2013.
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