We recognize a favored autumn decoration and food on October 26th that is used in a variety of recipes, competitions, and festivals. It’s National Pumpkin Day!
By October 26th, we in a frenzy of pumpkin obsession. We cannot wait for the big November holiday for pumpkin pie. No siree, we need pumpkin everything! Bars, cookies, coffee, cheesecake, pasta and oatmeal. Pumpkin Chunkin’, pumpkin patches, festivals, bake-offs and television specials. Let’s not forget jack-o-lantern carving, too! This fruit grabs American’s attention.
As it should be. This squash is native to North America. The oldest evidence of pumpkin-related seeds dates back to somewhere between 7000 and 5500 BC to seeds found in Mexico.
The word pumpkin originates from the word pepon, which means “large melon” in Greek.
Within recent years, white pumpkins have become more popular in the United States. The United States produces 1.5 billion pounds of pumpkins, with Illinois producing more than any other state.
Canned pumpkin may be recommended by veterinarians as a dietary supplement for dogs and cats that are experiencing certain digestive ailments.
Raw pumpkin can be fed to poultry as a supplement to their regular feed during the winter months to help maintain egg production.
Pumpkins have been grown in America for over 5,000 years. They are indigenous to the western hemisphere and were completely unknown in Europe before the time of Columbus.
- Pumpkins, gourds, and other varieties of squash are all members of the family Cucurbitacae, which also includes cucumbers, gherkins, and melons.
- In 1584, the French explorer Jacques Cartier reported from the St. Lawrence region that he had found “gros melons,” which was translated into English as “ponpions,” or pumpkins.
- In early colonial times, pumpkins were used as an ingredient for the crust of pies, not the filling.
- 2/3rd of the pumpkins produced annually are canned.
- Pumpkins were once recommended for removing freckles and curing snake bites.
- The largest pumpkin ever grown weighed 2,261.5 pounds.
- The Connecticut field variety is the traditional American pumpkin.
- Pumpkins are 90 percent water.
- Eighty percent of the pumpkin supply in the United States is available in October.
- Native Americans flattened strips of pumpkins, dried them and made mats and used pumpkin seeds for food and medicine.
- Native Americans called pumpkins “isqoutm squash.”
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