It’s been a highly unusual year weather wise marked by the ‘beast from the east’ and the hottest summer on record since the 1970s but thankfully, all’s well that ends well at Undley Pumpkin Patch.
Initially, when what was termed as the ‘beast from the east’ brought bouts of exceptional cold to the UK in March 2018, the land was very cold and soggy. As a result, both pumpkins and the maze crop got off to a very slow, cold start.
Within a few months, the weather conditions gave rise to the hottest, driest summer since 1976, marked by no rainfall for eight weeks (from mid May to mid July). Temperatures on the farm soared to 32 degrees. Nevertheless, the pumpkin crop has prevailed and there will be a great selection to choose from in 2018.
Anthony Pooley, farmer and co-founder of Undley Pumpkin Patch, explains: “With the benefit of irrigation, our crop of pumpkins and gourds are looking healthy. We, at Peterhouse Farm are fortunate enough to have a license to extract water from the River Lark, and have been watering the crop every five days throughout this heatwave period.”
