Asda growers have harvested 1.6 million pumpkins in time for Halloween this year, fittingly helped along by scarecrows.
The retailer’s Cambridgeshire grower base helped protect their crops this autumn from birds by deploying scarecrows in the field during their five-month growing period.
The scarecrow installation, which happens shortly after the pumpkin fields are propagated, removes the risk of birds digging for seeds if fields are drilled instead, and is accompanied by daily field walks by the growers.
Kevin Curson, Asda pumpkin grower, said: “To grow the best-quality pumpkins possible – especially when battling unpredictable weather – requires a human touch and often very simple methods to ensure we’re able to protect crops from seed to store.
“Halloween is the most important time of year for pumpkins, so to ensure each of the 1.6 million fruit we’ve grown this year is of the best quality possible, we take the time to walk the fields, dress our scarecrows and properly tend to the land to avoid damaging the plants.”
Growing to an average weight of 4kg, Asda has seen a sales rise in pumpkins as the trend for pumpkin carving increases in popularity.
Pete Lawrie, Asda pumpkin buyer, added:“In recent years, we’ve seen a huge increase in the demand for pumpkins as more households adopt Halloween as an annual tradition.
“With more people wanting pumpkins now more than ever, we’ve worked closely with our British growers to produce pumpkins perfect for decorating homes with, using their expertise to ensure almost two million perfect pumpkins are ripe and ready for carving this Halloween.”
