P
umpkins will likely be bigger than traditional this yr after the wet summer season supplied excellent rising situations for the squash, farmers have stated.
Oakley Farms, based mostly close to Wisbech in Cambridgeshire , is one among Europe’s greatest suppliers of pumpkins, rising round 5 million annually.
Steve Whitworth, industrial supervisor at Oakley Farms, stated the moist climate in July and August was “perfect” for rising pumpkins.
“We had a pretty good growing season for pumpkins this summer with a really hot June, which really helped the plants along,” he stated.
“The rainy July and August may not have been great for sun lovers or BBQ fans but from a growing point of view for pumpkins, it was perfect.
“The weather gave us the right amount of rain with sunny intervals especially compared with the challenging conditions we encountered during last year’s heatwave, which was officially the hottest UK year on record.”
The grower is a provider for Tesco , the place the pumpkins will go on sale throughout the UK from October 2.
Tesco pumpkin purchaser Lucy Moss stated: “The good news for Halloween fans coming from our main pumpkin growers is that the fruit will be larger than normal in all size variations this year as a result of very good growing conditions across the summer months.
“This year we have six different sizes and based on last year’s performance, we expect the carving variety to continue be the most popular.
“Each of the six different size categories will be larger than usual this year so fans will definitely get value for money.
The six categories of pumpkin at the store are: Carving – standard size; culinary; munchkin; novelty including devil (red) and ghost (white) types; large and giant.
Tesco said that last year there was a tenfold increase in people searching for pumpkin recipes from September to October on its Tesco Real Food website.
Ms Moss added: “It’s good news, from a food waste point of view… so nothing should go to waste.”
