Pumpkins
Everything you wanted to know

Let's start with the basic as we explore a little bit about the visual focus of our Halloween and fall season. Is a pumpkin a fruit (like a melon) or a vegetable (like a squash)?

A fruit is actually defined by its fleshy insides that contain seeds. Think mangoes, strawberries, grapes and pineapple. Wait - pineapples don't have seeds. Well technically, they do. The pineapples you and I enjoy are propagated artificially so that the seeds are not apparent, but a pineapple in the wild definitely has seeds and sometimes you can even see them in the pineapple we get at the market. We usually think of them as a rough or dry brown spot on the flesh of the pineapple - but look closer. It's a seed.

Now you are trying to think of other fruits without seeds, aren't you? In fact, you're now thinking of bananas and you are pretty sure bananas are not vegetables. Well you're right about that. A banana is definitely a fruit; in fact it is a berry! When you cut a banana into a disc shape you will often see little black dots in the middle. Although, like the pineapple, bananas are propagated in such a way as to not need seeds there are often remnants visible in the center.

But this is a pumpkin story so let's continue.

Where did pumpkins originate?

You have to go back pretty far for this. They are native to Central America and have been in the Western Hemisphere for at least five thousand years. Because everyone loves a pumpkin, they are now planted on six continents. As you can imagine, only Antarctica is pumpkin free.

Australia does not consider a pumpkin as a sweet food. They mainly roast their pumpkin with things like carrots and potatoes and serve with roasted chicken or lamb.

Pumpkins in China have an interesting story. In the northern areas of China people do not eat pumpkin at all, but in the south it is eaten and relished. There is even a factory that makes pumpkin flour and sells it exclusively to Japan.

The Swiss love their pumpkin - and even make a pumpkin gnocchi that sounds fantastic.

Here in the States we use pumpkin for both sweet and savory dishes. From roasted pumpkin to pumpkin pie, it is a fall delight. We roast the seeds and decorate the shell. Over 90% of pumpkins grown in the United States are gown in Illinois. The remaining product comes from Ohio and Pennsylvania, and of course it is grown throughout the country but not in the massive amounts of the Midwest. Back in 2008, Illinois produced almost 500 million pounds of pumpkin.

And of course, there are pumpkin competitions. Just how big can a pumpkin grow? According to the Guinness Book of World records the heaviest pumpkin ever weighed 2,032 lb and was grown by an American, Tim Mathison. He presented his gargantuan fruit at the Uesugi Farms Pumpkin Park in Napa, California, USA, in October 2014. That is a TON of pumpkin.

Of course, Guinness being Guinness, there are also categories for biggest pumpkin pie (3,699 pounds), the most pumpkins carved in one hour (102) and even most pumpkins smashed in one minute (11).

Finally, once you carve a pumpkin with a face or design, it is no longer a mere pumpkin, but is now a Jack-O-Lantern.

Carved pumpkins have been found in ancient Maori sites, as well as burial grounds throughout the world.