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  • 6 weeks ago
Pumpkin patches across the Northeast are packed with families searching for that perfect pumpkin this season. Local farmers say the crop is looking strong thanks to some much-needed rain just in time for fall.
Transcript
00:00Pumpkin patches across the Northeast are packed with families searching for that perfect pumpkin.
00:05This season, local farmers say the crop is looking strong thanks to some much-needed rain just in time for fall.
00:10Our Jersey girl, as I call her, Allie Reed, is live this morning from Shadybrook Farm in Yardley, Pennsylvania
00:19with how the weather shaped this year's harvest.
00:23Good morning, Allie.
00:27Good morning, Bernie and Ari.
00:29Yeah, the Jersey girl is in Pennsylvania today.
00:32We're live from Yardley, Pennsylvania at Shadybrook Farm, a very popular family fun farm,
00:39especially this time of year really leading into the wintertime as well.
00:44Right now, a lot of people say it's that pumpkin spice season.
00:48Unfortunately, the last couple of weeks it was so warm that it wasn't getting a lot of families out.
00:52Thankfully, we know, and just from what we've heard from both of you, Bernie and Ari, that that has changed.
00:58The fall weather is certainly here, and that is bringing families out to places like the pumpkin patch here behind me.
01:05I want to give you some video to give you an idea of what the harvest really looked like over the last couple of weeks
01:09and what we're hearing from farmers here.
01:11This gives you a good idea of what those beautiful bright orange pumpkins really look like right now.
01:16Those rows are really stretching across the fields here at Shadybrook Farm.
01:20It really is a picture-perfect fall scene after a growing season that had its ups and downs, actually.
01:26I'm told the crop started off light this summer.
01:30That's because of the drought that we were experiencing over the last couple of months.
01:34That lack of steady rainfall through June and July slowed the early growth, leaving some vines weaker than usual.
01:41But as we moved really closer into September, Mother Nature thankfully stepped in to do its part.
01:47Timely rain showers in late August and early fall gave the plants the final push they really needed here,
01:53helping fill out the pumpkins and boost their size and color just in time for the season's biggest crowds.
01:59That shift in weather from dry and warm to cooler and wetter made all the difference.
02:04As we got that later rain, the plants really popped for us and really put on a lot of fruit
02:10and really pushed to be a great crop.
02:14And that has a lot to do with the weather of how much rain we get and when.
02:19So if we get a really rainy season, we can have a lot of disease.
02:23But because it was dry early on, we didn't have a ton of disease, which was good for the plants early on.
02:27So it's kind of catch-22.
02:28No rain, no disease, but weaker plants.
02:32So we got the timing was perfect this year.
02:38And now the timing is just right for families too.
02:41Farmers say those warmer September weekends made it kind of hard for people to get into that pumpkin-picking spirit.
02:47But this weekend's and really this week's cooler air has brought that cozy fall feeling back.
02:52Crowds have been growing across the patch with families taking hay rides, snapping photos,
02:58and soaking in the fall colors, all while taking those beautiful bright orange pumpkins.
03:03Now, if you have been waiting for the perfect fall weather, I would say it's finally here.
03:08It's been a little chilly the last couple of mornings, but it's been absolutely beautiful.
03:13Now, yesterday when I was here at the farm, you know, speaking to the farmer, getting some videos as well,
03:19there was a ton of families here on a Monday.
03:21That just goes to show you that that weather, the second it changes, I don't know, I think it lights a spark, Ari and Bernie.
03:28Maybe just a little bit more to get those people out because they say, ah, this is time, it's finally here.
03:33We know the pumpkin season is short, so you got to get out if you're going to do it, guys.
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