Local pumpkin lovers may have dodged a bullet this year.

The poor pumpkin growing weather that’s hurt most of the rest of the state for the most part stayed away from Crawford County, according to John O’Grady, the man behind Al’s Melon Farm Market and Greenhouses. That’s no small thing as Pennsylvania is the second largest pumpkin-grower in the country with about 8,000 acres planted.

Although the statewide harvest is expected to be down, and floods in the midwest washed out crops, boosting demand, prices shouldn’t be too much higher than last year, according to O’Grady, who has retail locations in Linesville, Conneaut Lake and Vernon Township.

“Prices vary from one place to another,” he said. “But with the economy the way that it is, a lot of farmers, myself included, have had had to try to keep almost the same as last year.”

It may be harder to find certain sizes of pumpkins, however.

“This year’s pumpkin crop in Pennsylvania certainly will not break any records,” said Mike Orzolek, professor of vegetable crops in Penn State’s College of Agricultural Sciences. “This season’s pumpkins will be smaller than in previous years, and the size differences will be especially noticeable in the medium-to-large-size pumpkins that range from 18 to more than 25 pounds.”

Orzolek blames the smaller gourds on the dry weather that Pennsylvania experienced in late July and August, in addition to a cool summer. “Pumpkin size will vary across the state, depending on how dry it was in different regions and how much irrigation was applied during the growing season,” he said. “So areas of the state that have seen a lack of water over the summer can anticipate seeing smaller jack-o-lanterns this Halloween.”

Crawford County is not one of the regions in bad shape, O’Grady said.

“This has been a very good year for pumpkins,” he said. “A few of us had disease problems with powdery mildew and downey fungus early on in the season, but it’s still turning out well.”

Here and even in areas across the state that have had poor pumpkin weather, the pumpkins making it to harvest are in pretty good shape, according to Orzolek.

“The quality of the pumpkins this year should be anywhere from good to excellent, with most pumpkins of healthy color and desirable shape,” he said. “Consumers can expect considerable uniformity in crop quality throughout the entire state.”

With prices pretty much flat, pumpkin farmers and sellers like O’Grady are focused on selling out their crops. He’s also employing marketing strategies such pick-your-own patches where pumpkins sell for $3 each, and a free corn maze to draw new customers.

Pumpkin lovers hitting the market this weekend will likely be among the first to get the local crop. O’Grady said the first weekend in October is generally when pumpkin picking goes into full swing.