Drought Leads To Smaller California Pumpkins, More Shipments From Oregon
SAN RAMON (CBS SF) -- You may not be able to find The Great Pumpkin this year from California -- and you can blame it on the drought.
If you look around, this season's pumpkins seem smaller than in the past.
John Moore owns the San Ramon and Castro Valley pumpkin farms and says he is anxiously awaiting truckloads of pumpkins driven down from Silverton, Oregon.
"We are expecting probably in the range of 40 to 50 pounders," he said. "So triple the size."
Farmers in Oregon just sent him photos of big orange pumpkins with healthy stems ready to be loaded up and driven to his farms in the next couple of days.
The lack of winter rain and the recent high temperatures caused California's pumpkins to ripen early, some withering on the vine.
And while these California grown pumpkins don't quite measure up this season, for some it's not about finding the biggest pumpkin on the lot.
For some kids at the farm in San Ramon, it's all about the Halloween spirit, big pumpkins or not.
