Pumpkin patch prevails after gourd-awful year

A pumpkin-picking farm has opened in time for Halloween, despite a catastrophic fire that destroyed most of its equipment.

Staff at The Pumpkin Patch, at Bewholme, East Yorkshire, said 5,000 pumpkin-carving sets were reduced to a puddle of orange plastic after the blaze this summer.

It followed a difficult growing season, with a cold, wet spring and an explosion in the slug population.

But perseverance has paid off after friends and neighbours rallied around to help the family business of 40 years get back on its feet.

Farmer Jason Butler recalled looking up to see plumes of black smoke rising above the farm, after the fire broke out on 7 August.

"It was a bit of a heart-in-mouth moment, a lot of panic," he said.

"Everything's pretty much gone, there's not a lot left, so it's a case of trying to rebuild it and make it good again."

Humberside Fire and Rescue Service said the electrical fire started accidentally.

To make matters worse, the farm's pick-your-own sunflowers had to be sown four times after three crops failed.

The successful blooms were blown over in the wind, but the team has managed to get them ready for peak season.

The business near Hornsea began producing pumpkins in 2010. It now grows more than 40 varieties across 12 acres (five hectares).

Since the fire, members of the family have been working hard to reorder stock, harvest the pumpkins and put them on display in an undamaged barn.

Becky Butler, the co-owner of the business, has spent weeks on her computer trying to replace everything that was lost.

She said it had been a "huge team effort", with friends and neighbours "all getting stuck in".

"We've pulled it all together as a team and we're going to make it work," she added.

"It feels really, really good."

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