Get to Know Your Pumpkin
Pumpkins are fruits, a type of squash like cucumbers, squashes and melons, and are from the genus Cucurbita. Pumpkins are native to North America and have been domestically grown there for five thousand years. Native Americans called pumpkins "isqoutm squash." In 1584, after French explorer Jacques Cartier explored the Saint Lawrence region of North America, he reported finding "gros melons" (large melons). The name was translated into English as "pompions," which has since evolved into the modern "pumpkin." Pumpkins are low in calories, fat, and sodium and high in fiber. They are good sources of Vitamin A, Vitamin B, potassium, protein, and iron. The largest pumpkin ever grown was over 1800lbs by Jim and Kelsey Bryson from Ormstown in Quebec, Canada The largest pumpkin pie ever made was over five feet in diameter and weighed over 350 pounds. It used 80 pounds of cooked pumpkin, 36 pounds of sugar, 12 dozen eggs and took six hours to bake.
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What to Do With Your Carved Pumpkin After Halloween Do: 1. Put it in the compost heap - it will make good fertilizer 2. Bury it in the garden - it will decay quickly and enrich the soil 3. Wash, dry and save the seeds to plant next year (they will grow!) 4. Wash and roast the seeds - they make good eating. 5. Dump it in the trash, if you haven't got a garden Don't: 1. Use it as a door stop 2. Keep it indoors: it will rot and stain the floor 3. Put it in the attic for next Halloween 4. Attempt to eat it or cook with it. 5. Use it in cold fusion experiments (pumpkin fusion has been disproven). Retrieved from http://www.pumpkinpatchesandmore.org