Plenty of pumpkins, despite weather

After smashing a previous state record last year with his 1,318-pound pumpkin, William Layton was aiming to reach a new goal of 1,500 pounds.

But early one September morning when he woke to greet his Nelson County pumpkin patch, he discovered the rain from Hurricane Gustav caused his new 700-pound pumpkin to split open.

“It was too much water at one time,” said Layton. “I was right disappointed after seven months of work.”

Despite the setback, Layton is looking forward to trying again next year.

Growers such as himself put in a lot of work to get a finished product, Layton said, but it often comes down to “luck” and the mercy of the weather.

Recent drought combined with warm temperatures early in the growing season slightly affected some commercial pumpkin producers in Bedford County, but extension agent Scott Baker said there should be plenty left to decorate for Halloween.

P.W. Morgan runs a pumpkin farm near Smith Mountain Lake and uses a pond to irrigate his crop. Heat that surfaced earlier this year affected the planting period during May and June, which he said slightly diminished the quantity.

Still, there are plenty of pumpkins of various shapes and sizes for the public to choose from, he said. The farm is holding a festival from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. today on Toler’s Ferry Road in Huddleston.

People can pick their own pumpkins in the field, view the nearby livestock and take several hayrides, he said.

The Layman Family Farm in Montvale is also displaying and selling pumpkins this weekend and the rest of this month.

Co-owner Sharon Layman said the crop is better than last year since it received “the right rain at the right time.” Last year’s drought forced them to bring in pumpkins from other farms, but they fared much better this year.

“They were a little slow coming in,” said Layman. “You need cold weather to get them to turn colors.”

Mark Viette grows 65 varieties of pumpkins in two acres in Fishersville. His farm produced the same quantity as last year with the help of irrigation.

Viette said growing crops in the same spot for up to three years could make the pumpkins susceptible to disease. It’s also very important to rotate and pay attention to color, he said.

“If they have a rich, chestnut brown color, they last a lot longer than the ones that are pale,” said Viette.

Layton was able to breathe a sigh of relief when his record-setting pumpkin he named ‘Last Chance’ still held on to the state record this year. A pumpkin from Northern Virginia weighed in at the state fair in Richmond at a little over 1,000 pounds, he said.

Though he calls it a hobby and not a living, Layton still invests a lot of time and money into growing large pumpkins. He and several others also started the Giant Vegetable Growers Association to further feed their interest in the sport.

“I’m hooked on it,” Layton said. “I’m already prepping my garden for next year.”