With Halloween a little more than three weeks away, people in Windsor-Essex are flocking to pumpkin patches.
"We've had a great growing season with lots of pumpkins. We still have lots out in the field we have to get," said Pepe's Pumpkin Patch co-owner Greg Rocheleau.
Until Oct. 31, Pepe's Pumpkin Patch in LaSalle is open every day for people to pick out their perfect pumpkin.
Farmers there said growing season starts around May when seeds are planted, before the pumpkins reach their full size in late August.
But for some pumpkin farmers across Windsor-Essex, getting to that healthy crop has been a bumpy ride.
According to Rocheleau, some farmers were experienced the negative impacts of a "dry season" and "issues with bugs."
The latter is a problem Sherri Toole, owner of East Beach Flower Farm in Leamington, said she experienced all summer.
"Our cucumber beetle issue has been devastating to our crops, taking out, some weeks, about 75 to 90 per cent of our crops," said Toole.
Unlike many other pumpkin farmers, she said, East Beach Flower Farm does not spray their pumpkin crops with any kind of pesticide.
The result, however, has been pests destroying many of her crops. She said it's not clear why the pests are more a problem this year compared to last year.
"Pumpkins, flowers, anything. They were they all were affected this year, but they more so go for flowers," said Toole.
"They cut a hole right through the pedal, the leaf, anything. That would ultimately cause the plant to start breaking down and dying."
Fortunately for Toole, she added, the high demand for pumpkins has kept her pop-up at the Downtown Windsor Farmer's Market financially viable.
But due to her challenges this summer, Toole is considering using an organic spray on her crops next year.
"We're going to try and start from the very beginning of the season and just try and tackle them in larvae stage. Hopefully, we can do that."
According to Rocheleau, many people are not concerned with whether or not a pumpkin has been sprayed by pesticides since they are typically used for display purposes.
"Usually, we go through probably about 8,000 pumpkins for the season," he said.
"So we got lots and we're going to continue to have them right until the 31st."
