The cold, wet weather seen across 2024 and the subsequent boom in slug populations have meant pumpkin harvests have been significantly affected this year.
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Across the National Trust's gardens, gardeners have been forced harvest their pumpkins early due to such terrible conditions.
Kingston Lacy in Dorset have had to harvest their pumpkins a month earlier than usual, with only half the normal crop being saved. Andrew Hunt, the gardener at Kingston Lacy said: “Pumpkins need a long, hot growing season to do well. Unfortunately, we had a cold and prolonged spring, which meant that germination took place later than normal and then the cooler and wetter conditions over the summer really haven’t helped.”
Elsewhere, Arlington Court in Devon lost over 150 squash and pumpkin plants due to poor weather and slugs, which was also the same for Buckland Abbey in Devon.
A dry and sunny start to autumn could have saved the pumpkin harvest, but September was so cold and wet that the pumpkin and squash plants stopped growing and needed to be harvested early.
The Met Office released figured last week showing that some counties had the wettest September on record, despite national monthly records not being broken. Ten English counties experienced their wettest September on record, and Bedfordshire and Oxfordshire had the wettest calendar month since records began in 1836. Southern and central England had the worst rain, with some counties seeing 300 per cent more than their average rainfall.
Nostell and Dunham Massey saw a very slow season too, with Nostell in West Yorkshire only getting 25 pumpkins where 80 is more usual.
Other gardens, like Tyntesfield near Bristol and Calke Abbey in Derbyshire, reported a slow start to the pumpkin growing season because of the cold and wet weather, but managed to catch up. Sissinghurst Castle Garden had a reduced pumpkin crop, but Olivia Steed-Mundin, the vegetable gardener thinks this could be to do with a noticeable lack of bumblebees this year.
This year has been dubbed 'the worst year for growing' by several key vegetable farmers and nurseries. In our instagram poll, 80 per cent of people who responded said they had found it hard growing in their garden, citing slugs and rain as two significant issues.
With Halloween on the horizon, people will be looking towards their pumpkins, but if you're lacking in a substantial crop, why not try our suggestion of spooky apples?
