There will be plenty of pumpkins at the Laity patch despite the drought-like weather in B.C. this past summer, but hay is a different matter.
While the family is expanding its pumpkin patch this season, its dairy business is having to bring in hay from across the border to feed the cows.
“The grass hasn’t grown for about two months with the dryness,” said Matthew Laity, who operates Brookfield farm with his father, Paul Laity.
“So it’s been great because I haven’t had to mow my lawn, but there hasn’t been much cow food growing,” Matt Laity added.
“Often I don’t have to buy hay. Some years I’ve sold hay. This year, I figure I’m looking at six truck loads of hay or more to get through the winter.”
He expects to purchase at least six double semi-truck loads of hay, at $10,000 each, from Washington State.
And each one has to be organic hay, adding to the cost, to maintain the certification the Laity farm earned earlier this year.
The Laity farm on Golden Ears Way was founded in 1879 and has been producing milk since that time, but only became a certified producer in June.
Laity has already received one load of hay and is expecting the next load later this week.
Although the grass is starting to grow again, he said it’s the end of the season for hay.
“We won’t be harvesting grass again now until the spring.”
Meanwhile, a new pumpkin patch is getting ready to open.
Ken Laity is busy getting the barn ready for the grand opening of the new farm located south of the original Laity Pumpkin Patch on 128th Avenue.
He explained that the extended dry summer weather wasn’t great for growing pumpkins.
“I dont know if there is going to be a pumpkin shortage, but the sizes might not be the same,” he said. “I know Vancouver Island got hit really hard.”
The two pumpkin patches will still have plenty of pumpkins. They fared well because of the high water table surrounding the farms.
The pie pumpkins, which are more of a bush type plant, didn’t seem to be affected too much by the dry weather and the big ones seemed to do all right with proper irrigation.
The mid-sized pumpkins, though, struggled with the heat, so they might be smaller than normal, Laity said.
“There was just no water around. And just when we had that hot streak there for 45 days of that relentless heat, it just stresses the plants out.”
“This is the first time in 25 years that [lack of] water has been an issue,” said the farmer, whose family has run an agri-tourism business for more than 30 years.
Laity is hoping to have the new pumpkin patch open by Oct. 7. The grand opening will be the following weekend on Oct. 14.
The family has been working on the new project for about three years and it is designed for children six and up.
“There are a lot more active stuff to do over here. Obstacle courses, a race maze, a little bit larger corn maze about twice the size of the other one,” said Laity.
However, he added, families can choose either side and all the children will be happy.
The north side of the Laity Pumpkin Patch, at 21145 – 128 Ave. in Maple Ridge, opens for the season on Oct. 1
The Thanksgiving Monday it will be open from 9:30 a.m.
• Info.: laitypumpkinpatch.com.