Extension horticulturist Roland Roberts said extreme temperatures and hurricanes have both affected the national crop. The yields may not be as high because of the heat, but there is no place in Texas that has the high quality pumpkins that we do in the High Plains. Though pumpkins are very susceptible to leaf diseases, Roberts said they were not a problem this season. Pumpkin patches are full of many different varieties, Roberts said. Those little ones are always a good table decoration.
White pumpkins are also available, along with ornamental winter squashes.
There are squashes that are reddish in color and blue hubbard squashes - there is just so much variety. Roberts said growers also are producing ornamental corn, turnips, rutabagas and carrots. In Far West Texas, farmers are beginning to harvest cotton. District Extension director Charles Neeb of Fort Stockton said yields will be below normal. Armyworms are a problem in Central Texas, and many wheat stands have been destroyed.