BURLINGTON, Vt. (WCAX) – Some Vermont farmers are struggling to save their pumpkin crops after this summer’s flooding.

Fall on Mary Whitcomb’s family farm in Whitcomb begins in summer with the planting of pumpkins.

Last July, she saw them flower, grow, then drown.

“Every time I went out there with mud boots, it came up to my ankles,” Whitcomb said.

Heavy rains this summer have left crops soggy or underwater across the state.

At Whitcomb’s Family Farm growing site in Essex, squash have become blemished and soft due to a rot disease called phytophthora.

“Pumpkins are vine plants. They grow on the ground so they don’t like to be in water, and that’s basically what they did for three or four weeks,” Whitcomb said.

With about 85% of their pumpkins lost, this is the second year in a row that rain has ruined their yield.

And Whitcomb isn’t the only pumpkin grower in trouble.

Conant’s Riverside Farms in Richmond lost all of its pumpkins to the same disease – their first total loss in more than 40 years of farming.

“I miss seeing a green lawn turn orange in a day or two,” said homeowner Deb Conant.

Conant had to close for the season.

Meanwhile, Whitcomb made up for his losses with pumpkins from farmers in Vermont and New York.

They say they were once pumpkin sellers, not buyers, but the tide has turned.

“I think the climate has changed, and I don’t know if it’s just a fluke or a trend, but we have to start preparing for it,” Whitcomb said.

Whitcomb’s has had to raise pumpkin prices slightly, but says customers have been supportive.

As for next year, Conant and Whitcomb plan to cultivate new fields that are more rain-resistant.

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