Pumpkins and apples a-plenty

BUMPER CROPS CELEBRATED AT NATIONAL TRUST

- By LEWIS CLARKE

This year has produced a bumper crop of pumpkins

(DANNY LAWSON)

BY all accounts, 2025 was supposed to be a challenging year for British gardeners. Record-breaking heat, drought warnings, and widespread concerns over climate change painted a grim forecast for the country's harvest.

Yet, against all odds, the National Trust's gardeners across England have found themselves facing not shortage, but surplus.

From heritage orchards to kitchen gardens, the story is the same: a bumper crop of apples, pumpkins, squash and pears, arriving early and in astonishing quantity. It's a twist no one quite saw coming - and a hopeful sign that nature, occasionally, still finds a way to surprise us.

At Buckland Abbey, at Yelverton, the story is one of pure abundance - especially in the squash and pumpkin patch. Head gardener Sam Brown has been overseeing what he calls a record-breaking season.