ManitobaAn owner of a southern Manitoba pumpkin patch says she’s been overwhelmed with the outpouring of support after about 100 volunteers showed up to help her quickly harvest crops on her family farm before an early frost came during the weekend.Schwabe Pumpkins owner says about 100 people showed up Friday and Saturday to lend a handLauren Scott · CBC News · Posted: Sep 07, 2025 4:55 PM EDT | Last Updated: 5 hours agoSchwabe Pumpkins owner Melody Schwabe says her family is grateful for the volunteers who came out to help harvest fields of pumpkins, squash and gourds on Friday and Saturday before their farm was hit by another early frost. (Submitted by Melody Schwabe )An owner of a southern Manitoba pumpkin patch says she’s been overwhelmed with the outpouring of support after about 100 volunteers showed up to help her quickly harvest crops on her family farm before an early frost came during the weekend. Melody Schwabe, who owns Schwabe Pumpkins in the rural municipality of St. Andrews, Man., alongside her husband George, said this summer’s drought put the Interlake farm about a month behind schedule. They typically start picking in late August, she said. “We’ve worked so hard to save everything, and everything is so far behind,” Schwabe said in a tearful video posted to social media on Friday morning, referring to a frost that happened earlier in the week. “With another frost coming on Saturday, I don’t even know how we’ll get everything off the field,” she said. “There’s just no way that we can do it.”Within hours, volunteers started pouring into the field to pitch in. About 100 volunteers helped harvest crops at Schwabe Pumpkins on Friday and Saturday. (Submitted by Melody Schwabe)She said the family-run farm saw about 100 volunteers lend a hand harvesting pumpkins, squash and gourds Friday and Saturday, with some driving for hours to come and help. Volunteers brought food and coffee, and a couple of massage therapists stopped by to give massages to weary farmhands, Schwabe said. More and more people just kept showing up over the two days, she said. “It was just amazing,” she said, adding volunteers ranged from families with children to seniors. “I’m just overwhelmed with all the beautiful outpour that we’ve had.”The entire field of pumpkins was cut and ready to be put into bins by Friday night, she said. By Saturday afternoon, the field was cleared and their barn was packed with bins. Melody Schwabe says many pumpkins had to be picked before they were ready, so she and her husband will be sorting through them to see what can be salvaged. (Submitted by Melody Schwabe)Now she and her husband will be sorting through between 80 and 100 bins — each weighing as much as 450 kilograms — to see what can be salvaged, as many of the crops were picked before they were ready. “We’re not sure how good everything’s going to be.… We’re just grateful everyone helped get everything off,” Schwabe said. “It was definitely a lot less than what we normally get off our field, but there’ll definitely be a lot of good stuff in there and we’ll see how everything comes together.” Schwabe said she expected most of the farm’s pumpkins would have been killed off if the second frost hit them on Saturday, wiping out about three-quarters of the family’s income. Schwabe has been a farmer for about 20 years, but she said the last few years have brought varied weather challenges, from droughts that stifled growth to floods that rotted pumpkin seeds in the soil. If this year’s crop had failed, she said she feared the family would have to sell the farm. “I just felt like we spent our whole summer trying to save this crop and now we’re just going to lose it because of two back-to-back frosts,” Schwabe said. A volunteer helps fill one of the bins during the harvest at Schwabe Pumpkins. (Submitted by Melody Schwabe)With their field now empty, the family is still planning to open their seasonal business on Sept. 20. “My heart is so full,” Schwabe said.ABOUT THE AUTHORLauren Scott is a Winnipeg-based reporter with CBC Manitoba. They hold a master’s degree in computational and data journalism, and have previously worked for the Hamilton Spectator and The Canadian Press.With files from Gavin Axelrod
‘My heart is so full,’ says Manitoba farmer after volunteers help save pumpkins from early frost
