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GRADY PUMPKIN PATCH THRIVES DESPITE WET WEATHER

By Erin France/OF THE COMMERCIAL STAFF
Wednesday, September 23, 2009 10:41 PM CDT

While a pumpkin shortage may be looming over other farms, Hardin Farms in Grady still has its full patch.

Randy Hardin of Hardin Farms sits among some of the 26 acres of pumpkins growing on the farm in Grady Wednesday afternoon. Pine Bluff Commercial/Ralph Fitzgerald

Wet weather across the Southeast and eastern Midwest sections of the U.S. has caused problems for pumpkin growers, experts said.

However, Randy Hardin of Hardin Farms Market and Restaurant said he’s been careful to use fungicide to prevent the spread of disease.

“We’ve been applying the necessary medicine to fix it,” he said of dangers such as powdery mildew.

Besides the mold, pumpkins are also susceptible to armyworms, aphids, stink bugs and cucumber beetles.

Little success

Don Plunkett, Jefferson County extension agent, said the county’s Master Gardeners tried to grow pumpkins this year, but with little success.

“We planted quite a few varieties,” he said.

But the rain took its toll, Plunkett said.

“We had a lot of powdery mildew,” he said.

Only about 50 or 60 pumpkins survived, Plunkett said.

“It’s kind of disheartening,” he said.

Besides selling pumpkins wholesale, Hardin Farms also sells produce to visiting school students on annual field trips and on the weekends, he said.

“I know we’re going to have pumpkins,” Hardin said.

He said buyers should look and discard pumpkins with blemishes and look for a good, solid stem.

“That stem continues to feed that pumpkin,” Hardin said.

Arkansas pumpkin growers had a pretty good year with May and June being almost perfect for starting a crop, according to Craig Andersen, extension horticulture specialist for the University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture.

“July turned cool and could’ve been better and August was OK,” he said Tuesday. “But this is ridiculous. If I could’ve picked the worst thing for pumpkins, it would be two weeks of rain when what we need is dry weather.”

Arkansans typically raise 1,000 to 3,000 acres of pumpkins each year, he said.

“This year, I would say we are probably in the middle, maybe 1,500 to 2,000 acres,” Andersen said.

Most farms have fewer than 25 acres, many only 5 to 10 acres of pumpkins. Very few have 100 acres or more, he said.

The Cooperative Extension Service, a part of the University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture, contributed to this article.

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