Pumpkin smashers strike

LAKEVILLE —  State police apparently have still not arrested the vandals responsible for stealing pumpkins from a Millerton farm field and then smashing them against signs and mailboxes along Indian Mountain Road in Lakeville.

Although there have been rumors that an arrest was made, numerous calls were made to the police barracks in North Canaan and to state police headquarters in Middletown and no one seems to have a record of such an arrest.

Many Indian Mountain Road residents are furious, meanwhile, about the damage, which included the destruction of two signs at the Indian Mountain School. This isn’t the first time school property has been destroyed by vandals, and Headmaster Mark Devey said, “We are discouraged and disappointed that this seems to be a recurring problem. It’s frustrating.�

Other property owners in the area report that they too have had property destroyed over the years, sometimes by pumpkins, sometimes by rocks. One resident said the police officer investigating the case didn’t think the vandal or vandals would be apprehended.

“Troopers are currently working on leads in three cases that all occured in the same geographical area in the same time period,� said Salisbury Resident State Trooper Mark Lauretano. “It’s unknown at this time whether any of these cases are directly connected. There are leads we are following and people of interest that we are interviewing.�

This most recent incident, which occurred sometime during the night of Oct. 2, was particularly painful for area farmers.

“It’s been such a bad season for pumpkins,� said Julie Schroeder of Silamar Farm in Millerton. “It’s one thing when someone steals things you’ve brought in. But when it’s plants that you’ve nurtured all summer long, it really hurts.�

These particular pumpkins were apparently stolen from the fields of Daisi Hill Farm in Millerton. Those fields are on a back road with few houses.

Donald Totman, owner of Daisi Hill, said he doesn’t know how many pumpkins were stolen this time.

“We always have them stolen, every year,â€�  he said. “But usually they steal them from the yard. This time they stole them from the field.â€�

He has tried to increase security around the yard and shop, he said, “but there’s nothing you can do to protect them out in the field.�

The thieves are looking for something with some heft, he said. He estimated that the stolen pumpkins probably all weighed around 10 to 15 pounds.

Bruce Howden of Howden Farm in Sheffield, Mass., said he believes one reason that people steal and smash pumpkins is that some farms host pumpkin catapult events.

“When the farms do that, it’s like they’re advocating smashing them,� he said.

Totman said that he has had a good crop of pumpkins this year. Schroeder said that Daisi Hill has particularly good soil for growing the fall squash, but she noted also that Totman had worked hard at nurturing his plants over the summer.

“Don really babied those pumpkins this year,� she said.
“All the fertilizer had leeched out of the ground because of the rain, he had to go in two or three times more than normal to feed them.�

Howden agreed that it was this summer’s  heavy rains that put a damper on the pumpkin crop.

“The bees don’t pollinate the flowers when it rains,� he said. “And the rain washes all the nutrients away from the plants.�

He noted that the standard for Halloween pumpkins in the United States for the past 38 years has been the Howden pumpkin, developed by his father.