If you’re anxious to buy a pumpkin from that first fall crop – brace yourself...

Are you looking forward to picking your pumpkin? Prepare yourself for some sticker shock...

Record flooding has hit a prime patch of the Northeast pumpkin crops – resulting in pricier pumpkins for everyone. Thanks to Hurricane Irene and subsequent flooding – many pumpkin fields were left submerged, resulting in drowned crops. That all adds up to fewer pumpkins and slim pickings.

Finding that perfect carving pumpkin could be trickier too. Wet weather promotes fungus disease on pumpkins and affects the foliage – which prevents the pumpkins from growing as large as they normally do.