Pick a peck of pumpkins

Some local farmers are reporting that rumors of a pumpkin shortage have been greatly exaggerated.

"We had the biggest crop of pumpkins we ever had," said Regina Peters, whose family grows and sells pumpkins in St. Florian.

"The only problem is some of them began to rot before we could get them out of the field. For every pumpkin we brought out of the field, we probably left four in the field."

Peters suspects the excessive rain this year caused the pumpkins to spoil easily.

Despite the spoilage, Peters said her family has a good supply of pumpkins for sale at their home on Church Road near St. Florian Town Hall.

News reports from other states, including Tennessee, describe pumpkin shortages that were brought on by excessive rain and consumers scrambling to find pumpkins for fall decorating.

Local farmers report they have plenty of pumpkins to fill the needs of their customers.

With cool, clear weather expected this past weekend, Peters was braced for a busy weekend for selling pumpkins and other fall decorations.

"Every time the sun comes out, we have a big crowd," she said.

Ron Henry, who grows and sells pumpkins at his home on Alabama 247, near the U.S. 72 intersection west of Tuscumbia, also anticipated a busy weekend.

"When the sun came out for a little while (two weekends ago), we were covered up with customers," Henry said.

This past weekend's brisk air and sunny skies made for even better pumpkin-picking weather.

Henry said while the excess rain cut the yield from some of his ornamental pumpkins, he managed to produce a good crop of jack-o'-lantern pumpkins.

He said the rain helped produce a good crop of sunflowers that he used to create a maze.

"It's about a half-acre maze. The kids really get a kick out of trying to make their way through the maze," he said.

Amy McGee, of McGee Farm on Lauderdale 7, west of the Zip City community in Lauderdale County, said the rainy summer also caused spoilage problems with her farm's pumpkins.

"We had a lot of pumpkins rot in the field, but we still have plenty to sell. Hopefully with the cooler weather and sunny skies ... everybody will be in the mood to buy a pumpkin."

Dennis Sherer can be reached at 740-5746 or dennis.sherer@TimesDaily.com.