Wednesday, October 13, 1999
Pumpkin crop thrived despite drought
Irrigation key, growers say
BY TERRY FLYNN
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Bob Cummins lifts pumpkins into a truck at McGlasson's Fruit Farm in Hebron.
(Patrick Reddy photo)
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HEBRON — The drought of 1999 took its toll on many local crops, especially corn and beans, but there's no shortage of pumpkins as Halloween and Thanksgiving approach.
Growers and retailers from around Greater Cincinnati have all the pumpkins they can handle, and both size and price are right in line with last year's crop.
That's good news for jack-o'-lantern carvers and the people who like to make pumpkin pie from scratch.
“We irrigated one large pumpkin patch from the river,” said Cindy Stasie, who sells produce at the McGlas son Fruit Stand and farm on Ky. 8 along the Ohio River below the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport.
“Those pumpkins are just as big and bright as last year,” she said. “There is another patch on the hill where we couldn't get water and the pumpkins didn't grow as well. They were smaller. But we do a lot of field trips for little kids, and the smaller pumpkins were really great for those kids.”
Pumpkins at McGlasson's sell for 30 cents a pound, the same price as the 1998 crop.
The same is true at Robben Florist & Greenhouses on Pedretti Avenue in Delhi Township. They sell the pumpkins they grow and stage a pumpkin fest on two weekends in October, including this Saturday and Sunday.
“We did more irrigating this year than last year, because of the dry weather,” said co-owner Ron Robben. “Without irrigation, no one would have much in the way of pumpkins this year. Our overall yield was not down much, if any, and the sizes were very good.”
The Robbens grow pumpkins on several acres outside Harrison. Mr. Robben said the only crop that suffered was from a patch where he grows a special white pumpkin. “We couldn't irrigate that area, and we had very few white pumpkins.”
Kim King, Mr. Robben's sister and a co-owner of the business, said Tuesday the pumpkin price also hasn't changed from last year — 25 cents a pound.
At the other end of the pumpkin scale is the Kroger Co., which sells the big orange gourds at its 67 Tristate stores as well as all over the Midwest. A company spokesman said Kroger has all the pumpkins it needs.
“The pumpkins we will sell this season, if placed side by side, would stretch about 40 miles,” Kroger public affairs spokesman Steve Jagers said Tuesday. “Our prices are similar to last year, $2.99 per pumpkin.”
Kroger buys its pumpkins primarily from the Fulton Farms near Troy, Ohio, and from farms in Michigan. Mr. Jagers said folks making jack-o'-lanterns needn't worry.
“The (pumpkin) crop we are seeing is very similar to crops in the past,” he said. “Size about the same, and the quality may be just a bit better.”
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