Pumpkins in August? Warm spring, hot summer have many fruits, vegetables ahead of schedule

Heat brings early harvest in New England, Midwest

BOSTON — Many fruit and vegetable farmers in New England and the Midwest say they expect an early harvest this year — if it hasn’t already started.

Early varieties of apples are already ripe for picking in many places. Sweet corn was a couple of weeks ahead of schedule, as were tomatoes, blueberries and peaches.

And, if the warm weather holds, families might have Halloween pumpkins well before October.

Julie Schmidt of the National Agricultural Statistics Service says it’s because the mild winter and warm spring let farmers plant early, and warm weather since has helped the plants’ growth.

But there’s a down side too. Dave Flannery owns Apple Holler in Sturtevant, Wis., and he says few people want to go apple picking when it’s 80 or 90 degrees out.