Pumpkins

The question crossed my mind yesterday... why on earth did God make pumpkins? So, I decided to look it up and see what I could learn. Here's some trivia for ya.



A pumpkin is a squash fruit, most commonly orange in colour when ripe. The larger kinds acquire a weight of 40 to 80 lbs. Botanically it is a fruit, referring to a certain plant part which grows from a flower. However it is widely regarded as a vegetable in culinary terms, referring to how it is eaten. Pumpkins are grown today in the US more for decoration than for food.

Pumpkin chunking is a competitive activity in which teams build various mechanical devices designed to throw a pumpkin as far as possible. Catapults, trebuchets, ballistas and air cannons are the most common mechanisms. Some pumpkin chunkers grow special varieties of pumpkin, which are bred and grown under special conditions intended to improve the pumpkin's chances of surviving being thrown.

When ripe, the pumpkin can be boiled, baked and roasted, or made into various kinds of pie, alone or mixed with other fruit; while small and green it may be eaten in the same way as the vegetable marrow.

The pumpkin is related to the zucchini. The largest pumpkin ever grown weighed 1,469 lb (666 kg). Pumpkins are orange because they contain massive amounts of lutein and carotene. These nutrients turn to vitamin A in the body.

Using pumpkins as lanterns at Halloween is based on an ancient Celtic custom brought to America by Irish immigrants. All Hallows Eve on 31 October marked the end of the old Celtic calendar year, and on that night hollowed-out turnips, beets and rutabagas with a candle inside were placed on windowsills and porches to welcome home spirits of deceased ancestors and ward off evil spirits and a restless soul called "Stingy Jack," hence the name "Jack-o'-lantern".

The city of Keene, New Hampshire currently holds the world record for the most lit pumpkins in one location: 28,952. Illinois produces more pumpkins than any other state in the United States; Michigan is a distant second. Pumpkins were among the first foods from the "New World" adopted in Europe, probably due to a European cousin: Lagenaria.

"Pumpkin" is sometimes used as an affectionate term, often referring to one's significant other. For example: "I love you, Pumpkin." The pumpkin is the state fruit of New Hampshire.

Unfortunately for us, October is actually National Pasta Month.