Summer may have been a bit of a washout, but pumpkins are thriving thanks to all the rain.
This Halloween the main varieties of pumpkin are all expected to be larger than normal.
The wet weather in July and August was “perfect” for growing pumpkins, according to Steve Whitworth from Oakley Farms.
He added: “We had a pretty good growing season for pumpkins this summer with a really hot June, which really helped the plants along.
“The rainy July and August may not have been great for sun lovers or barbecue fans but from a growing point of view for pumpkins, it was perfect.
“The weather gave us the right amount of rain with sunny intervals especially compared with the challenging conditions we encountered during last year’s heatwave, which was officially the hottest UK year on record.”
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Tesco pumpkin buyer Lucy Moss said the pumpkins will be larger than normal across all size categories this year.
The supermarket is expecting the carving pumpkin to be the most popular.
But last year saw an increased interest in people eating the squashes too – there was a tenfold rise in people searching for pumpkin recipes on Tesco’s food website.
Ms Moss added: “It’s good news, from a food waste point of view, so nothing should go to waste.”
