Pumpkin harvests in Nova Scotia delayed by June rain

When a week of heavy rain in June flooded his 18 hectares of freshly seeded pumpkin fields, the mud grew so deep it reached right up to Blake Jennings's knees.

By that point, only half of what the Masstown, N.S.,farmer had planted by hand had sprouted and would survive. As for the rest, it was like dropping seeds in a glass of water and expecting them to grow.

"Once you get that much water, nothing wants to grow," Jennings says. "What didn't sprout in time rotted."

That rain deluge, which dropped up to 80 millimetres in the last day of May and first two days of June, may havestunted pumpkin growth in parts of the province, according to a number of producers.Somepredictit will be a late crop this year and pumpkins will be smaller than usual.

It means retailers who eye an early jump on Halloween produce have their storefront displays ready to go, but are still waiting for pumpkins to fill them.

Jennings's field is littered with bare patches and he suspects he's lost more than half his crop. It's rare to stumble on a plant with four good-sized, orange pumpkins. Many are still green andsome are so small they will not be picked and willbe left to rot.

At this time last year, Jennings sayshe'd already stocked the Sobeys stores in nearby Truro. This season, he's still two weeks away from harvesting.Every day he says he's fielding calls and texts from grocery produce managers looking for pumpkins.

"I feel bad, I feel I'm letting people down," he says. "I've had a good relationship with them, been supplying them for years. But then you get a bad crop like this and there's nothing I can do about it."

But unlike staple foods, pumpkins are ornamental and not subject to the same kind of supply and demand dynamics as other kinds of produce, according to Eric Jennings, who founded theMasstown Market in 1969.

The popular locationnormally stocks between 1,500 and 2,000 pumpkins leading up to Halloween.

Jennings said customerstypically buymore if a store has a large display and lots to offer. If the store can'tstock much, then some consumers will simply give pumpkins a pass rather than pay more in a tight market.

"The demand probably won't be as high this year because the crop is down and there's less to show," he says.