It's a tradition for a lot of families, heading to that pumpkin patch to pick the perfect one.
And that's what it's all about for Jim Lorraine, who owns and operates RiverBreeze Farm and Cornmaze in Onslow.
"It's the family memories. That's the special meaning to me," said Lorraine, as he watched two trailers full of people make their way through one of his pumpkin u-picks. "Right now, you can see a man and his young children. Watching them come to the family farm as a family and enjoy it...that's everything."
Operating the farm and corn maze in Onslow, Lorraine said a pumpkin patch goes hand in hand with the maze.
"Everybody wants that experience," he said. "People can go to the grocery store and pick out a pumpkin, but people want to go out in the farm fields. They want to take pictures."
Thanks to a rainy spring season, Lorraine said replanting is the only thing that saved their product.
"We replanted three times. We had to. We usually start planting around the 20th or 25th of May. We try to avoid the frost."
Opening weekend was mid-September, which is on par with previous years for RiverBreeze.
For Blake Jennings in Masstown, however, it's another story.
The 21-year-old, who has been growing and selling pumpkins since he was nine, lost about 50 per cent of his crop.
"The seeds were rotting in the ground," he said, as he watched people picking pumpkins from bins at Blake's Pumpkin Jungle. "It was that severe rain we had at the first of June. It's hard to say how many I'll get this year. Usually it's about 1,000 per acre, but in some spots I only have about a quarter of that."
Business has been brisk, though, for the pumpkins he does have left, with visitors steady over the first weekend of October. He also supplies the two Sobeys stores in Truro this year. Last year, those supplies also went to six stores in Halifax Regional Municipality, but his shortage didn't allow for that this year.
Jennings is no stranger to farming - his family runs Bayview Poultry Farms, and other family runs a neighbouring dairy farm.
"My father, when he was younger, grew and sold pumpkins and squash to Masstown Market. I started young selling gourds and decided on opening a roadside stand. Pumpkins are just something different," he said.
"And fall was always my favourite time of the year, with decorating and everything. You get to see the same families every year, and you get the chance to build nice relationships with the public. It's always a pleasure."
Twitter: @TDNRaissa
DID YOU KNOW?
The Dalhousie Agricultural Campus in Bible Hill has a total of nine Atlantic Giant pumpkins on display around the campus. Students worked for Plant Science over the summer in the demonstration garden, orchard and field plots, as well as the chef's garden. They planted and maintained classroom teaching plots all summer and grew the pumpkins on the sideline for fun. Mike Main was the students' ‘guide' and supervisor.
It's a tradition for a lot of families, heading to that pumpkin patch to pick the perfect one.
And that's what it's all about for Jim Lorraine, who owns and operates RiverBreeze Farm and Cornmaze in Onslow.
"It's the family memories. That's the special meaning to me," said Lorraine, as he watched two trailers full of people make their way through one of his pumpkin u-picks. "Right now, you can see a man and his young children. Watching them come to the family farm as a family and enjoy it...that's everything."
Operating the farm and corn maze in Onslow, Lorraine said a pumpkin patch goes hand in hand with the maze.
"Everybody wants that experience," he said. "People can go to the grocery store and pick out a pumpkin, but people want to go out in the farm fields. They want to take pictures."
Thanks to a rainy spring season, Lorraine said replanting is the only thing that saved their product.
"We replanted three times. We had to. We usually start planting around the 20th or 25th of May. We try to avoid the frost."
Opening weekend was mid-September, which is on par with previous years for RiverBreeze.
For Blake Jennings in Masstown, however, it's another story.
The 21-year-old, who has been growing and selling pumpkins since he was nine, lost about 50 per cent of his crop.
"The seeds were rotting in the ground," he said, as he watched people picking pumpkins from bins at Blake's Pumpkin Jungle. "It was that severe rain we had at the first of June. It's hard to say how many I'll get this year. Usually it's about 1,000 per acre, but in some spots I only have about a quarter of that."
Business has been brisk, though, for the pumpkins he does have left, with visitors steady over the first weekend of October. He also supplies the two Sobeys stores in Truro this year. Last year, those supplies also went to six stores in Halifax Regional Municipality, but his shortage didn't allow for that this year.
Jennings is no stranger to farming - his family runs Bayview Poultry Farms, and other family runs a neighbouring dairy farm.
"My father, when he was younger, grew and sold pumpkins and squash to Masstown Market. I started young selling gourds and decided on opening a roadside stand. Pumpkins are just something different," he said.
"And fall was always my favourite time of the year, with decorating and everything. You get to see the same families every year, and you get the chance to build nice relationships with the public. It's always a pleasure."
Twitter: @TDNRaissa
DID YOU KNOW?
The Dalhousie Agricultural Campus in Bible Hill has a total of nine Atlantic Giant pumpkins on display around the campus. Students worked for Plant Science over the summer in the demonstration garden, orchard and field plots, as well as the chef's garden. They planted and maintained classroom teaching plots all summer and grew the pumpkins on the sideline for fun. Mike Main was the students' ‘guide' and supervisor.
