Time is running out for students who wish to pick their own pumpkins for the approaching Halloween festivities.
With the first frost of the season already here, many farms are closing down to the public and harvesting the remaining vegetables themselves for sale at stands and markets.
"We just had a killer frost [last Tuesday] night which really hit pumpkins hard. We are expecting fewer people to come and sales to plummet," said Margaret Gladstone, who grows and sells pumpkins along with her husband.
The Gladstones still have pumpkins available for public picking, but warn that the frost has damaged what is left of the this year's crop. Their stand is open on the weekends and is located on Route 5 about a half mile outside of Bradford, Vt.
Riverview Farm, located near the Connecticut River in Plainfield, "gets a little protection from the frost because we are near the river," said Nancy Franklin, who works on the farm.
"Students should try to pick pumpkins before it gets too much colder because with the frost, the pumpkins will start to get soft. The longer people wait, the less likely you are to get a pumpkin," said Franklin.
Riverview Farm is open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on the weekends until the end of October. It is located on River Road off of Route 2A about three-and-a-half miles south of Plainfield.
There are also numerous stands in the area that have pumpkins for sale, such as Cotton Stone Farm, located on Route 10 about three miles outside of Hanover. It is open everyday except Sunday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Supermarkets in Hanover, such as Grand Union and the Co-op Food Store also sell these seasonal treats. "We plan to sell them up through Thanksgiving depending on our supplier and what they can give us," said Ken Locke, who works in Grand Union's produce department.
