Pumpkins Progress Report- August 12th 2014. Most peoples knowledge about pumpkins pretty much ends after the Halloween carving of Jack-o-lanterns and the last pumpkin pie at Thanksgiving. However, pumpkins have much more to offer. The seeds are both high in protein and rich in a highly nutritious, flavorful oil. Pumpkin seeds are used for pumpkin seed oil, in much the same way that sunflower seeds are used for sunflower oil. Pumpkins exist in different parts of the world, but the variety that we know best for Jack-o-lanterns and pumpkin pie, is known to botanists as Cucurbita pepo (the pumpkin is a member of the cucumber family). Pumpkins were domesticated by the American Red Indians. In 1492, Christopher Columbus sailed the ocean blue, and discovered, among other things pumpkins. Christopher Columbus was the first European to witness the use of pumpkins on his travels to the US and the Caribbean Islands. He was so impressed with the pumpkins that he took the seeds back with him on his very first trip. Christopher Columbus presented the pumpkins, along with gold and other treasures, to the King and the Queen of Spain. They were most impressed with the gold and treasure, but had more than a passing interest in the pumpkins too. By the 1600s, pumpkins were being grown all across Europe, and in England too. The worlds largest producers and consumers of pumpkin oil today are the Austrians, and it is widely used in salads and marinades. Here are some interesting facts about pumpkins; Pumpkin flowers are edible. Pumpkins are ninety percent water. Pumpkins were once thought to cure freckles and snakebites. China leads the world in pumpkin production with 6.3 million metric tons a year. The top five pumpkin producing American states are; Ohio, New York, Pennsylvania, Illinois, and California. For sixty years from 1778 to 1848, David Wilbur of Westerly, Rhode Island, known forever after as the New England pumpkin scratcher, took to the woods and remained there, shunning humanity and living off the land, his only human contact being the strange hieroglyphs and signs he scratched into his neighbors pumpkins. If my neighbors scratched signs into my pumpkins, I would be none too happy. But its highly unlikely to happen cause I have great neighbors, who are very interested in my pumpkin growth progress. Well, the pumpkins are growing like crazy and getting bigger with each passing day. I am looking forward to seeing them change from green to Halloween orange, as the summer season slowly turns to autumn. There are already vague signs of the beginning of autumn. Cooler nights, dewy mornings, spiders webs, shorter days and a golden hue in the evening twilight, as the days begin to get shorter. I love the Autumn, it is a wonderful time. The season of mist and mellow fruitfulness- to quote the poet John Keats. My Halloween lantern plant (technically it is a Chinese lantern plant, but I like to call it a Halloween lantern plant) Christmas rose and cherry tomatoes in a hanging basket, are all doing really well too. I am a happy gardener. Tune in again tomorrow for another Pumpkins Progress Report (a gardening feature for the gardeners who love history too). Thank you for reading (if youre still awake that is). Have a wonderful day folks. x
Posted on: Tue, 12 Aug 2014 07:55:37 +0000
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