Britain faces a pumpkin shortage for Halloween – as horror weather has ruined the harvest and farms struggle to recruit pickers.
Jono Smales, boss of Lyburn Farm in Landford, Wilts, said: “We’ve managed to grow pumpkins this year, but we’re getting calls from growers across the country whose crops have failed.
“They want to buy our pumpkins. We’ve had calls from growers, farms, pumpkin patches and a supermarket.”
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(Image: Alistair Grant)
“Pumpkins are planted in May, so the cool June and July meant the crop could not be established on some farms and either died, or is very, very late.”
Kilduff Farm, East Lothian, has been forced to permanently close its pumpkin patch after the weather damaged crops.
Boss Lucy Calder said: “Unpredictable weather meant delivering a large pumpkin field became so challenging.”
Many farms are also still advertising for pickers just two weeks before the start of the season, amid fears some pumpkins could be left to rot in fields.
Mr Smales said: “It can be hard for pumpkin patches to get pickers just for a few weeks’ work.”
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