ATHENS, Ala. (WHNT) — With Halloween just ten days away, pumpkin season is well underway.
“We’ve had a topsy turvy year as far as climate this time,” said Wes Isom, a farmer in Athens, who has been growing pumpkins since the late 1970s.
To reach maturity in time for Halloween, pumpkins need to be planted between mid-June and mid-July in North Alabama. During that time, the seeds need enough moisture to take root.
“These are our main season regular jack-o’-lantern, and we got them irrigated it twice,” Isom said That really helped them. Some of the other ones suffered some due to a lack of rain, but in the end we got enough rain to to make a crop on all of them.”
At Isom’s Orchard, they plant cover crops in some of the fields, which help to keep moisture in the soil.
“It was, hairy vetch and red clover, and we use a roller system to roll it down flat and plant the pumpkins into it,” Isom said.
Now that October has rolled around, Isom has harvested a successful crop. If you are looking to extend the life of a pumpkin, he recommends keeping the pumpkins out of direct sunlight, but it can also be a problem if your pumpkin gets too wet.
“If it’s really rainy, they can they can rot pretty fast,” Isom said.
Isom said they pick fresh pumpkins to sell at least every other day and have plenty of variety for people to choose from leading into Halloween.
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