Pumpkin Facts

If you stay up late at night pondering whether a pumpkin is a vegetable or fruit, or if you need to know where the "Pumpkin Capitol of the World" is located, fret no more, we have the answers for you! We've collected some of the more interesting and fun facts about pumpkins right here for you.

1. A pumpkin is a vegetable, right? Wrong. It's actually considered a fruit! Pumpkins are members of the Cucurbita genus, a vine crop group that includes squash and cucumbers. The Connecticut field variety is the kind farmers typically grow in their pumpkin patches.




2. Pumpkins are a warm weather crop and are usually planted in July. They are harvested in October for the obvious purpose of supplying jack-o-lanterns for Halloween, but October is also when 80% of the pumpkin supply in the United States is available. Pumpkins harvested during this month also go towards edible pumpkin products or other uses (such as animal feed) in addition to supplying the doorsteps of suburbia with glowing globes.




3. Pumpkins are good for you! They are high in antioxidants, potassium, Vitamin C, Vitamin A, fiber and have a high water content. Pumpkin flowers are also edible.




4. The word "pumpkin" is said to have originated from the Greek word "pepon", meaning "large melon". In the shift from "pepon" to "pumpkin" there were a couple variations on the word along the way. Apparently the French thought "pompon" was better than "pepon", then the English adapted "pompon" to "pompion", and the American colonists came up with the word we use today, "pumpkin" in lieu of "pompion".




5. Pumpkin or "isqoutm squash" as it was known to Native Americans, was a staple in their diet and used for medicinal purposes as well. And it wasn't just for consumption. Native Americans also used to make mats out of flattened, dried pumpkin strips!




6. Pumpkins, which are originally from North America, can be grown almost anywhere in the world (on every continent except Antarctica). But they weren't always grown or popular in places like Europe. Settlers to America learned about pumpkins from the Native Americans. They then introduced their friends back in European to the tasty orange globes. With seeds delivered from the settlers, Europeans began to grow the large squash and the pumpkin became equally popular on that continent as well. In fact, pumpkin was the one of the first foods to travel back to Europe from the colonies.




7. Got a snake bite? Get a pumpkin! Pumpkins and their seeds have been used in the treatment of kidney, bladder, and digestive maladies with varying degrees of success and for eliminating freckles (no, it doesn't really work) and yes, treating snake bites (again, doesn't work). Other uses for pumpkin seeds that might actually work include treating diabetes, water retention, nausea, and an enlarged prostate.




8. So where do you think the pumpkin capitol of the world is? Transylvania maybe? Halloween Town? Nope. It's Morton, Illinois. Well, they are the self-proclaimed pumpkin capitol of the world anyway. Morton (a suburb of Peoria) is home to the Libby Pumpkin Plant where they make those tasty cans of pumpkin pie filling you use for your Thanksgiving and Christmas pies. With over 80% of the world's canned pumpkin processed there, the governor of Illinois declared in 1978 that Morton was "The Pumpkin Capitol of the World" and most wouldn't argue with that. Most, that is, except for some in California and Texas. Half Moon Bay, CA and Floydad, TX each both claim to hold the prestigious title of "Pumpkin Capitol of the World" as well. We're not sure about California or Texas, but Illinois does have some data to back up their title proclaimation. The University of Illinois states that pumpkins raised within a 90-mile radius of Peoria (which includes Morton) account for 90% of all pumpkins grown in the United States.




9. Giant pumpkins are of the Atlantic Giant (Cucurbita maxima) variety. In the early 1800's farmers began to cross hubbard squash with kabocha pumpkins to create the giant pumpkin phenotype. People interested in trying to out weigh each other with giant pumpkins at fall festivals held world-wide use Atlantic Giant seeds. The world record for the largest pumpkin is held by Joe Jutras of Rhode Inland who entered his cream colored pumpkin in the Topsfield Fair in Maryland on September 29, 2007 and walked away with the title when his 1689 pound pumpkin topped all previous records worldwide.




10. The first pumpkin pies where created by hollowing out a pumpkin, then filling the bowl like inside with milk, spices, and honey and then baking the whole thing. This was during the time of the first colonists to America so the creations were probably cooked in hot ashes.

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