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Oakley Farms Produce - Pumpkins
Hall Road, Outwell, Wisbech, Cambridgeshire, PE14 8PE
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| Oakley Farms grow a wide selection of
pumpkins to ensure the complete range of sizes are available to meet all our customers
specifications.
Pumpkin sizes range from 500g to 10kg +
The picture on the left shows a field of "Mars" about to be harvested.
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| Pumpkins are now harvested by means of a harvesting
rig. The pumpkins are trimmed from the plant, placed on a conveyor belt, which takes them up to
the trailer where they are put on another belt and taken through the washer. When they reach the
end they are put into bins to be transported back to the store. |
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| Handling is kept to a minimum. Pumpkins are very
tender and care is taken to ensure fruits are not damaged during the harvesting and washing
operation as this may lead to problems during storage.
Harvesting begins in early September; some varieties of small pumpkins are sold early for
culinary purposes. |
We store most of our pumpkins in polytunnels, as we find
this gives them a good environment for keeping and curing.
Temperatures can be controlled to give frost protection and good airflow around the pumpkins.
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| Many of our pumpkins are carefully packed into
supermarket dollies, ready for despatch. This ensures minimal damage to the pumpkins during
transit, as well as providing a convenient method of moving large quantities of pumpkins.
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