The Great Jack-o’-Lantern Will Be Smaller This Year

The ongoing drought has had a significant impact on much of the state, including our local pumpkins.

"The dryness it definitely affected the size a lot of the varieties that are supposed to be big are a lot smaller,” said pumpkin farmer Jacob Cohen. "It affected the pollination because the bees weren't as active when it's hot. And we had to do quite a bit of irrigating this year."

The dry, hot summer has left a lasting impact the fall crops. Pumpkins are planted in early June, right as we kicked off the driest summer on record for the Hartford area with just under 4.5” of rain from June through August. But thankfully, while pumpkins may not be as big this year, there are still plenty to go around. Which is a good thing for Rosedale Farms and Vineyards in Simsbury.

“2020 has been by far one of our busiest years,” says Morgan Wilson, an employee at Rosedale Farms and Vineyards. “On the weekends we see people getting their carving pumpkins and sugar pumpkins to make pumpkin pie, the corn maze of course.”

While Rosedale Farms does grow some of their own pumpkins, the demand has been so high this year that they’ve tapped into other local farms resources to keep the supply of pumpkins going.

“This year especially there’s a lot of folks staying home and not necessarily traveling and going to football games or anything of that nature,” said Wilson. “So folks have a lot more time to carve pumpkins and enjoy a little bit more family time.”

The local farm has also expanded its already huge corn maze, which is typically 6 ½ to 7 ½ acres.