The pumpkin season for Van Groningen & Sons, Manteca, Calif., is shaping up to be a record breaker, with a bumper crop of medium carving, heirlooms and pie-sized pumpkins.
The weather has been so favorable that harvest will begin early, according to Tommy Van Groningen, plant health manager.
“Most of the reason for the bumper crop is the temperature,” he said in a news release. “The heat did not cause many blossoms or young pumpkins to burn off. The bees were also working most of the day since it never got too hot.”
Cool nights allowed the plants to respire, so they were spending energy on survival, he said.
“They were able to spend more of the inputs on producing a crop,” Van Groningen said in the release.
According to the pumpkin grower, the COVID-19 pandemic will actually promote pumpkin sales. With more children learning at home and their parents working at home, families will turn to home-based activities to give a sense of normalcy, according to the release.
The company’s buying and variety guide is available online.
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