By Emmy Powell
Communications Specialist

Despite the hot summer, Texas pumpkin farmers saw increases in yields and quality.

Good rains around planting led to an optimistic growing season for the pumpkin crop, but the extreme heat in July and August tempered expectations.

Tim Assiter, pumpkin farmer and owner of Assiter Punkin’ Ranch in Floyd County, said drought and wildfires impacted the crop, but the pumpkins recovered well.

“We’re having a wonderful crop here. Our crop, as we’ve gotten later, is just better than it has been all year long,” Assiter said. “Once we got past that heat, everything has turned out great. The pumpkins are more beautiful now than we have had all year.”

The Assiter family has been growing pumpkins since the late 1950s. They now grow about 1,100 acres of pumpkins each year.

They begin harvesting and shipping pumpkins in August. In addition to their wholesale pumpkins, Assiter Punkin’ Ranch has a storefront that welcomes customers to pick their own pumpkins.

“Floydada is Pumpkin Capital, USA. That means we raise an awful lot of pumpkins, and I have out here a place for consumers to come and that is still in full swing,” he said. “We plant some areas that have all the different varieties of pumpkins. And there’s a lot of people who really enjoy getting out to the farm and going through those fields and seeing the way everything grows, being able to experience harvesting their pumpkins themselves.”

Assiter said pumpkins are usually bought at the end of September and the beginning of October, but they can be used as decorations past Halloween and Thanksgiving.

“I have seen people that paint their pumpkins gold, red, green, blue—just like Christmas balls. They put them out under their trees to decorate,” Assiter said. “You can even stack large pumpkins and flock them like a snowman.”

Pumpkins can be used for more than just decorations. Assiter grows several varieties that are used for pie filling and other processed foods.

Throughout the rest of the season, people are welcome to visit Assiter Punkin’ Ranch, pick their own pumpkin and snap a photo at the iconic “Red Barn.”

“We have painted pumpkins. We have blue pumpkins, pink pumpkins. There’s just so many different varieties and so many different things to celebrate with,” he said. “We’re still running our little pumpkin train, and we have our little petting zoo open.”

Floydada is rich in pumpkin history, dating back to 1541, Assiter said. Every second Sunday of October, they host their annual Punkin Days Celebration, which brings thousands of people to the small town.

Assiter Punkin’ Ranch continues to grow more varieties and improve their farm.

“We went from one white pumpkin to 35 different white pumpkin varieties. Now, we also have irrigation water, and we’ve improved those systems to raise pumpkins,” Assiter told the Texas Farm Bureau Radio Network. “All these things have made improvements to the land. Our experience and our diversity in all the different pumpkins we raise is one of the things that has made Floydada good for pumpkins.”