Pumpkin crop exceeds growers' expectations

Pumpkin growers in Sussex say they have produced a strong Halloween harvest despite the UK's hottest summer on record.

Farms in Sompting near Lancing and Rye are welcoming visitors picking pumpkins in the run-up to Halloween.

At Sompting Pumpkins, tenant farmer Caroline Harriott said growers had been concerned repeated heatwaves would affect the crop.

She said the farm's pumpkins had "exceeded all our expectations" despite the challenging growing conditions.

Harriott said 70,000 seeds were planted in the first week of June and were left to grow in a field which "followed cattle and sheep grazing it".

They "naturally fed the soil with their manure", she explained, adding that the crop included 20 different varieties of pumpkin.

At Tibbs Farm near Rye, partner Phil Wheeler said growers also took steps to help the crop cope with the dry weather.

He said the pumpkins were planted on south-facing land which had not previously been ploughed.

Wheeler said avoiding weeds was an important factor in achieving a strong crop.

He said rain during the first two weeks after planting around 35,000 seeds also helped the pumpkins establish.

Although the pumpkins did not grow as large as in some years, Wheeler said most ripened successfully.

"It was good because we don't always get that," he said. "They weren't big but they were ripened."

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