
Welcome to Morton, Illinois — the bite-sized town that produces a whole lot of canned pumpkin
The pumpkin pie Americans enjoy each Thanksgiving often comes from pumpkins grown near Morton, Illinois.

The pumpkin pie Americans enjoy each Thanksgiving often comes from pumpkins grown near Morton, Illinois.

Giant pumpkins can top the scales at more than 2,000 pounds – and caring for these behemoths is often a full-time job. But for some growers in the central U.S., the dream of raising a world record-setting pumpkin is a tantalizing prospect.
MORTON — The great pumpkin shortage of 2021 is turning out to be as real as Linus’ Great Pumpkin. Neither ever showed. Instead, despite some national headlines about a pumpkin shortage this year, Midwestern farmers say there’s nothing to worry about. “God granted us quite a bounty this year,” says John Ackerman, who grows pumpkins