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Pumpkins Have Followed Their Own Path
Posted on Saturday, November 04, 2006 (CST) by Thoth
 The pumpkin is probably the oddest fruit. No other fruit is grown more for decoration, than as a source of food. It has also has become an object of competition with carving and growing pumpkins crazes throughout the month of October. Definitely, the pumpkin is not your ordinary fruit, or is a vegetable??
Pumpkins are considered a fruit because it has edible seeds, but usually are referred to as a vegetable. Considered in same family as the squash, they grow from trailing vines. But unlike squash, which is generally bought fresh, most of us rather not go through the hassle of cooking a pumpkin, and buy processed pumpkin in a can.
In colonial times, however, they would cut the top off the pumpkin, remove the seeds and fill it with milk, spices and honey and bake it on the open fire.
Yet given
our busy schedules, turning to store-bought canned pumpkin makes sense,
but the thought of stuffing a pumpkin and putting it out to bake does
sound intriguing.
Using pumpkins as lanterns
at Halloween is an old Celtic tradition that Irish immigrants bought to
America. In the old Celtic calendar year, Oct 31st marked the end of
the year. The Irish hollowed out turnips, beets and rutabagas and put a
candle inside. Left on the windowsills, the miniature lanterns were
thought to welcome the spirits of the deceased and ward off the evil
"Stingy Jack", hence the name "Jack-o-lantern".
How it changed from turnips
to pumpkins was most likely a slow evolutionary process that probably
involved too much of one thing (pumpkins), and not enough of another
(farmers were short on cash). Now the spirited candle holders have
turned into a multi-million dollar business, as Halloween follows
Christmas as the second most decorative holiday.
Carving Jack-o-lanterns has
turned into a competitive sport as contestants quickly turn a pumpkin
into a work of art in twenty minutes or less.
Just as competitive are
the garden enthusiasts vying to grow the biggest pumpkin. And big they
are. Using techniques such as hand pollination, removing vines from all
but one pumpkin, fertilizing or even using hypodermic needles to put
milk directly into the vines, they have managed to grow a pumpkin
weighing 1,469 pounds.
By late August, the days
and nights grow colder and the green pumpkins begin to change colors
like the leaves during autumn. As the fruit ripens, the vines grow old
and the leaves become torn. And by the middle of October, little foot
prints start to wonder into the orange-dotted fields searching for the
perfect pumpkin to carve this Halloween.
Copyright: The Epoch Times
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