Shortland Public School, in Newcastle, hopes to sell hundreds of pumpkins at their front gate on Friday to raise money to revamp the school hall.

And they aren’t just any pumpkins – they are Morpeth pumpkins.

The Lower Hunter community got behind the region’s farmers last week and bought more than 20 tonnes of pumpkins from a temporary stall in Central Maitland in a matter of hours.

It meant the fruit went to restaurants, schools and community groups, rather than becoming waste.

The thought that so many pumpkins could be used as fertiliser seems outrageous now that we are starting to see the scope of the demand for the produce in the Hunter Region. 

Shortland Primary School upped its order by about 400 earlier this week after they sold 200 in the days before the sale had even begun.

Slow Food Hunter Valley leader Amorelle Dempster, who organised the pumpkin stall in The Levee, urged the community to support the region’s farmers.

“We have so many small farmers that would benefit from it and if we don’t support them they’ll eventually close their doors,” she said last week.

People across the region have answered this call by the thousands.

And everyone involved in the initiative has been a winner.

The farmers have been able to sell their produce, rather than let it become fertiliser. 

They have received between $3 and $5 per pumpkin, rather than the 20 to 25 cents per unit that they would have received by selling their goods to major supermarket chains.

Pumpkin eaters have also benefited. 

Instead of paying about $3 per kilogram, they have been able to buy pumpkins much cheaper – they’ve also had the satisfaction of knowing they’ve helped out local farmers.

No wonder people flocked to The Levee and loaded shopping trolleys last Thursday.

The pumpkin is a part of Maitland’s history and is iconic – the Mercury has made this point before.

But it’s nice to see other parts of the region so enthusiastically embrace what the Maitland area has to offer. Lets continue to support Lower Hunter farmers so they can continue to grow top quality and highly sought after produce.