Prepare For Pumpkin Spiced Disappointment In Illinois

We haven't had much rain lately and it's probably about to rain on your parade if you love all things fall.

Unless you've been totally out of the Midwest for the last several weeks, you know that we've had some nasty heat streaks lately. Most recently, the heat dome that covered both Iowa and Illinois and made us have late-season highs in the 100's. Icky.

It hasn't rained much either. Even I, with a chronically leaky apartment roof, have been doing rain dances to make at least one afternoon super rainy.

It's been hot and it's been pretty dry and it's both of those elements that could squish ideas for a cute pumpkin patch or apple orchard photoshoot with the fams.

The Harvest

First issue: the pumpkin patches. The Midwest Independent Retailers Association says that those problems both shrunk and reduced the number of pumpkins in farmers' patches this year. But on the bright side, any farmers that irrigated their pumpkin fields well should be fine. Paired with the sunlight, those fields might actually have some particularly beautiful pumpkins this year.

The apple orchards might also take a hit because of the heat and drought. Our friends at KWQC talked to Craig Tanner, owner of Tanner’s Orchard. He told them:

This year, it’s been dry in June. Apples have been slow to grow, but with rain in July and August, everything has kind of caught up.

Hard harvest or not, I'm still definitely planning on checking out some local apple orchards and pumpkin patches this fall. It's a must.

Apple picking goes through the end of October. Shaw Local says pumpkin picking season technically starts in mid-September in Illinois.