Every autumn thousands head to Western New York farms to pick out the perfect pumpkin, but the 2009 harvest is a little lighter than previous years. Still the light harvest is not slowing the crowds at many area pumpkin patches.
“Let’s get pumpkin,” yelled little Carter Showers. The Buffalo toddler is on a mission to find the perfect pumpkins for his family.
“He’s very particular. He likes his specific pumpkins and he wants to get a pumpkin for every member of the family,” said Carter’s father Darren Showers. The Showers family always kicks off fall with a trip The Great Pumpkin Farm in Clarence.
“We love the colors of the season. And we come out here every year rain or shine,” Darren Showers added. Showers says the family normally lands at the pumpkin patch in the rain. The National Weather Service reports we’ve had 31-inches of precipitation this year. That includes rain and snow.
The end of September through the October is peak season for the Great Pumpkin Farm. Last year 125,000 people visited the farm during that time frame. Most of that traffic was on the weekend. While we’ve had a pretty rainy season, officials say there’s been a light harvest. But they haven’t seen any difference in the amount of people coming to the farm.
“The pumpkins had a hard time, I believe because of the weeds so the harvest was down a little bit. Because the bees probably had a hard time getting to the pumpkins. We had some issues with deer. Of course, you know a lot of the local farmers around here are doing well,” said Katy Toth with the farm. The Great Pumpkin Farmers grow on just 10 acres of the 100 acre lot. The farm hosts a fall festival of events every weekend until November first. But the weekdays give families and school student groups a chance to learn more about the Buffalo-Niagara frontier agricultural landscape.
“Educational when they’re on their tours they get to see all the pumpkins growing in the patch. And then the chicken show actually talks about chickens and eggs,” said Toth. She says the Great Pumpkin Farm cultivates the feeling of fall for visitors.
“All the cornstalks and the hay and the pumpkins and just the feel of the fall,” Toth added.
