They might be a little smaller, not quite as ripe, and a mixture of green and orange, but one Tayside farmer feels very fortunate to have any pumpkins at all after a very poor summer.
John Laird, of family-run business Cairnie Fruit Farm, said the very wet and cold summer would have resulted in an 80% loss of his yield if it hadn’t been for the polytunnels he has in place.
He said: “We’re very lucky to have the infrastructure to grow these under cover. Plastic covering protects the pumpkins from wind and rain, but the one thing it can’t protect against is the temperature.
“Our harvest is large at about 2,600, but they are smaller, not as ripe and not all completely orange.
“But without covering, we’d have lost about 80% of our crop.”
The poor summer has led to what some are describing as “the Great British Pumpkin Shortage” with many farmers reporting reduced yields.
But John has already sold about three-quarters of his crop and doesn’t expect to have issues off-loading the rest.
“Interest in Halloween is increasing every year — people are really embracing the festival,” he said.
“I would say we see an increase in customers of 10% to 15% each year.”
A member of the squash family, pumpkins are thought to have originated in North America.
Pumpkins are a seasonal crop and are difficult to grow in Scotland as they require an exact soil temperature of 8C to grow.
John remembers trying to grow pumpkins on a patch for many years with varied success.
He said: “The covers have helped enormously.
“We can almost guarantee a certain yield now, provided nothing major happens.
“We shut at the end of October and so the Halloween crop is the blaze of glory at the end of the season.
“It’s important to us, we enjoy it and it’s a great way to finish up for another year.”
While farmers finish off their growing seasons this weekend, police are preparing for a night of games — not all of them fun for everyone.
Police in Forfar have been speaking with shop staff asking them to avoid selling eggs to youngsters in the approach to Halloween after homes in the town and nearby Kirriemuir were pelted with the produce.