How to scope out the perfect pumpkin despite weathered conditions

The weather hasn't really felt like Fall, but the season is in full swing, so yes, it is the perfect time to pick your pumpkins.

What's fall without pumpkins? It seems like a given, but for Adkins Farm in Salisbury this year it was anything but.

"We don't have any of our own crop here because of the rain one day was 12 inches and we lost our entire crop that day. Everything was beautiful and then with all the rain no pumpkins, no vines, it was gone," says Tammy Adkins, owner of Adkins Farms.  

August's rain wiped out the Adkins 40 acres of pumpkins and ghords in a matter of hours.

"Everything was beautiful and then with all the rain no pumpkin no vines it was gone."

And with fall being their busiest season, pumpkins are a must so they improvised bringing in pumpkins from Pennsylvania.

Despite their lost crops and unseasonably warm weather of late they are working hard to make sure these pumpkins last.

"We have to spray every seven days in this area for fungus powerdy-mildew and that kind of stuff and so if they've been properly treated as they're growing, it should help keep them even longer. If they've not been sprayed they tend to rot more easily as well."

And here's some tips to pick the best pumpkins, "You want to look your pumpkin over top and bottom, make sure there's no soft spots and then make sure the stem is attached well, it doesn't have to be green but make sure its attached well."

And if you want to make sure your pumpkins last, "The secret is to keep it up off the ground you really don't want them directly on the ground. Put some mulch or some pine sheds, or straw something like that underneath they don't want to sit right on concrete."