NOBLESVILLE, Ind. — Autumn is finally in the air.

Over the last few months, central Indiana saw weeks with no rain and scorching temperatures. It’s had an impact on a fall staple, but one local pumpkin patch says it’s actually been a positive one.

“These are some of the most beautiful pumpkins we’ve raised in years,” said Kyle Spencer, co-owner of Spencer Farm in Noblesville.

In fact, Spencer said this year’s pumpkin crop is the best they’ve raised in all 42 years of operation.

“Last year was our biggest yield that we’d ever had and this year seems like it’s almost double,” he said.

Thousands upon thousands fill his pumpkin patch waiting to be picked and turned into jack-o-lanterns or pies. Spencer just needs customers to come out and do so.

“This year, with it being unseasonably warm, we haven’t seen the number of people that normally come out because it just doesn’t feel like the season,” Spencer added.

Still, it turns out the conditions were just right for above-average pumpkin crops – in both yield and quality across the state, according to Steven Myers, an associate professor of horticulture and landscape architecture at Purdue University.

“In the US in recent years, Indiana has been the number one producer of fresh market pumpkins, where you buy the whole pumpkin,” Myers explained. “So it’s important to note that Indiana is a pumpkin state, not just a corn and soybean state.”

The crops thrived in spite of drier than normal conditions, and that’s because experts say pumpkins prefer it that way once the plants begin to mature.

“They need moisture while they’re beginning to vine. After they start to vine, they need very little water because that usually indicates the roots are way down at that point in time,” Spencer said.

Spencer said his crops would’ve needed the most water after they were planted in May, through mid-June – a period of time the FOX59/CBS4 Weather Authority team says was the wettest compared to the same range since 2021, abruptly turning dry through the rest of summer – as if the stars aligned for them.

Spencer just hopes the cooler weather coming up will bring crowds back to enjoy his pumpkin patch.

“This is a time of year that helps us get through the rest of the year,” Spencer added. “We just hope people can find the time to make in their schedules to make their way our here.”

The pumpkin patch at Spencer Farm will be open daily through Halloween.