Compton, of Compton’s Vegetable Stand and Very Berry Patch, shipped a tractor-trailer full of pumpkins to Newfoundland and Labrador this week.
It’s the first time his farm has sold that particular product to an out of province buyer and Compton said it’s a good opportunity for the business.
“As I build my wholesale market it’s been something I’ve been wanting to tap in to. Not only just to do it, but to make those connections off the Island.”
Compton said he recently found himself with a bumper crop pumpkins on his hands, more than he had a readily available market for locally.
He made a few calls and eventually was connected with a buyer for Coleman’s, an independent chain of grocers in Newfoundland and Labrador.
They purchased 2,000 pumpkins from Compton, which shipped out this week.
Normally the farm sells that particular crop through its own market stand as well as through the Sobeys chain, which are in-turn sold locally.
Compton added that the local market for pumpkins is starting to pick up now and will peak about two weeks before Halloween.
The surplus was a nice surprise, said Compton, after a nearly disastrous year for pumpkins last year, when birds dug up and consumed three separate plantings of seeds. In the end, they barely had enough to meet their needs.
There were no such bird problems this year.
@JournalPMacLean
