The Great Pumpkin Shortage

There will be no Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown--not this Halloween. The spring's severe rains and the summer's extreme heat have devastated the 2006 pumpkin crop in the East and much of the Midwest. "There is a real pumpkin shortage," says Jim Geohegan, owner of Sunshine Farm in Sherborn, Mass., who estimates his harvest will be just 12 tons of pumpkins this year, down from the typical 70. Pumpkin prices are up all over the country--in some places as much as 50% higher than they were last fall. And some farmers who run pick-your-own patches are even importing pumpkins and placing them in the fields to ensure customers will have something to "harvest" and carve before Oct. 31. Of course, as every kid can tell you, a lack of jack-o'-lanterns can't kill the true Halloween spirit. After all, there's no shortage of chocolate or candy corn.