Scaring Halloween Trick-or-Treaters Is Free. But This Pumpkin? $13.50.
Supported by
SKIP ADVERTISEMENT
Scaring Halloween Trick-or-Treaters Is Free. But This Pumpkin? $13.50.
The Dykemans are not the only ones who love pumpkins.
Pesky deer like to feast on them, so the family tries to ward them off with peanut butter smeared on electric fencing.
“They get a buzz and the negative signal hopefully keeps them away,” Mr. Dykeman said. “But sometimes you’ll see the bite marks on the pumpkins.”
The peanut butter (about $10 per 80 ounces) is one of the many items the couple analyze as they break down costs and yields per acre. They are sticklers about the numbers, counting things like a broken fan belt ($1,700).
Pumpkins, with their variety of sizes, shapes and colors, grow in most U.S. states. In 2023, New York devoted 4,300 acres to planting pumpkins, with an estimated value of $10 million, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
While almost all of Illinois’s production goes into cans for pie filling and other processed foods, a vast majority of New York’s pumpkins are the Howden variety, destined for front porches, apartment building lobbies and office break rooms. In recent years, white, green and pink pumpkins have become more popular, along with oddly shaped ones.
Prices in the New York area can vary, depending on size and color and where they are purchased. A 20-pounder cost $50 at a suburban Westchester community pumpkin patch, but a nearby grocery store sold similarly sized pumpkins for $9.99. At one Upper Manhattan grocery store, a pumpkin was $5.99.
