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October Frost Could Be A Threat To This Pumpkin Patch Frost Might Be A Threat To This Pumpkin Patch

A race between cold weather and the last pumpkin patch

By Janelle Pottinger

JANELLE POTTINGER: With one week to go for the Pumpkin Hollow, it is a race between the end of the week and frost.
At night the temperature is dropping to 37 degrees and frost will hit at 35 degrees or lower.
Pumpkin Hollow owner, Louise Cox says there are a few hacks to help keep the frost from the pumpkins.

LOUISE COX: If it’s a light frost what we do is we run around with tarps and covers, sheets, newspaper anything to put on top of the pumpkins and that will keep the frost off the pumpkin and then we remove it the next day and hopefully the weather is nice, and they’ll be fine.

POTTINGER: According to Cox, the rain from September was a setback for their pumpkin crop. Due to warmer weather the beginning of this month and the pumpkins, they brought from an auction; they were able to break even. After receiving a fifteen-thousand-dollar grant given to farms under 50 acres, Cox says that helped counteract the setback.

COX: It offset what we lost in September in our September crop.

POTTINGER: This family-run farm sells pumpkins of all different sizes.
The lowest price for a pumpkin is one-dollar, which is small enough to fit in the palm of your hand and the biggest ones, which Cox says takes three grown men to lift is fifteen-dollars.
Volunteer Chris Gregus says he’s here to help in any way he can.

CHRIS GREGUS: I can be helping customers buy pumpkins or if I’m inside I’m doing more selling drinks and food or if they need help, I go and I help pick pumpkins from the patches.

POTTINGER: While Louise hopes to keep the frost off just for these next few days, she says next on the agenda is Christmas trees. In Syracuse, Janelle Pottinger N-C-C News.

SYRACUSE, N.Y. (NCC News)– This week is the last week for the Pumpkin Hollow Pumpkin Patch. With this year’s rain and cold weather having a negative impact on the growth of the pumpkin crops, frost now threatens the last patch. Pumpkin Hollow Co-owner Louise Cox said she has some tricks up her sleeves to help counteract the frost.

“If it’s a light frost what we do is we run around with tarps and covers, sheets, newspaper anything to put on top of the pumpkins,” Cox said. “That will keep the frost off the pumpkin and then we remove it the next day and hopefully the weather is nice, and they’ll be fine.”

Frost is just another factor that the farm faced this year in regards to its pumpkin crop. The rainy weather in September made it difficult for the crop to flourish, which led them to seek a second option to getting pumpkins on the ground.

“We couldn’t cultivate the weeds around it, we couldn’t add fertilizer or anything because the ground itself was soaked,” Cox said. “We had to purchase from an auction our first month’s worth of pumpkins and that was very difficult and very costly.”

Along with purchasing from an auction, the Cox’s also applied for a grant that is available to farms 50 acres or less. The Pumpkin Hollow Farm is 47 acres and the grant gave them $15,000 that helped them break-even and offset the losses from the September crop.

Aside from the huge impact that weather plays on the growing of pumpkins, it also affects the number of people who come to the patch. According to Cox, on sunny days the patch tends to have a more decent turnout compared to rainy ones, which she said is expected.

Even though Pumpkin Hollow is a family-run farm and the Cox’s have five sons and 22 grandchildren, they still have room for volunteers. Their neighbor, Chris Gregus, helps out at the farm when he can and he said it is a good opportunity for him.

“I get to interact with people and get experience for future jobs that I have after college,” Gregus said.

The most expensive pumpkins at the farm are $15 and according to Cox, it takes three men to carry them. The cheapest ones are $1 and can fit in the palm of your hand. At the end of the week when the pumpkin patch is over the leftover pumpkins will be put in a donation box and sometimes Cox gives some away for free.

The last day of the patch is Oct.31 and Cox plans on setting up candy stations throughout the barn for the kids to get free candy. The last thing that the farm will be doing before they close for a few months is selling Christmas trees for a few weeks in December.

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