From lattes to chap stick and even pizza, the pumpkin spice craze has hit an all-time high this fall. But long before there was pumpkin pie cheerios and pumpkin spice marshmallows, the pumpkin has been a fall tradition for over 5,000 years.
We wanted to share with you some fun facts about pumpkins, the best, local farms and patches, as well as some pumpkin decorating tips.
1) Did you know that it is a fruit? And, the first time it was referred to as a pumpkin was in the fairy tale Cinderella. You might recall how Cinderella’s fairy god mother helped her transform a golden pumpkin and six gray mice into a carriage to take her to the ball to meet her prince charming! The word pumpkin comes from the Latin word pepeon which means large melon!
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Irish immigrants brought the tradition to America in the 1840s and it soon became an integral part of our fall festivities.
3) The world’s largest pumpkin was more than five feet in diameter and weighed over 1,800 pounds! The largest pumpkin pie ever baked weighed over 2,020 pounds; now that is a lot of pumpkin pie!
4) Sorry Starbucks, you didn’t start the pumpkin spice fad, in the 1700s Colonists would cut off the tops of pumpkins and fill them with milk, spices and honey, then bake them in hot ashes!
5) Pumpkins have over 500 seeds and are a superfood, high in fiber and low in calories. They also pack an abundance of disease-fighting nutrients, including potassium, magnesium, and vitamins C and E.
6) Over 1.5 billion pumpkins are produced each year, with the majority being grown in Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and California!
7) Morton, Illinois is known as the pumpkin capital of the world and according to the University of Illinois, it is responsible for 80% of the world’s canned pumpkin products.
8) Most pumpkins are harvested in October, just in time for Halloween!
Local Spots for Pumpkin
Gingerbread houses began in Europe in medieval times. In that time period people used gingerbread houses for many things. Ginger root was discovered in East Europe by Marco Polo who found ginger grown on the Caribbean islands (Trowbridge, n.d.). It ginger can also be found in Africa, the West Indies, China, Japan, India, and southern Florida.( Where does ginger grow, n.d.) In the 11th century ginger was discovered and used as pastries, bread, ginger cakes, and cookies. Gingerbread has spread throughout Western Europe during that time period (Gingerbread house, n.d.). Also the Crusaders were returning from wars in the Eastern Mediterranean which made gingerbread a delicacy. They shaped gingerbread as a talisman so soldiers could wear it for battle and was also used as protection against evil spirits. In the 13th century gingerbread was shaped in different forms by monks from Franconia, Germany. Also in the 13th century Swedish nuns baked gingerbread to ease their indigestion in the year of 1444. In the 17th century for weddings people used gingerbread for gifts or it was used them as a love token. During that time gingerbread was k...
The pecan, which was previously named Hicoria, but is now known as Carya illinoensis, grows on a tree that is typically 75 to 100 feet in height (Natchitoches Pecans). The nuts are rounded and can be grouped together at up to 100 nuts per pound. It was evident that the origination was that of an Asian tree species. The tree species had first appeared in North America before the first humans crossed the Bering Strait in about 10,000 B.C. (Jones, 2013) Archaeological evidence reveals that the fossil remains discovered along the major streams and irrigation canals in Texas and the northern part of Mexico, indicate that it was the birthplace of the pecan species. (Murray, Pizzorno, 2005).
The Pecan tree is a native tree to North America. When early European settlers traveled across the sea to settle in the New World, they found pecan trees located in numerous places in this new land. Since then, the pecan tree has become one of the most important orchard species in terms of acreage. Indians began using pecans almost 8000 years ago in what is now Texas. The first budded pecan trees were produced in Louisiana in the mid-1800s and orchards have been established throughout the Southern states. The first recorded shipment of pecans to England was documented in 1761, by Spanish and European explorers (Anderson and Crocker, 2004). In 1917, a commercial shipment of pecans came out of Georgia and since then, Georgia has been the leading producer of pecans. Although Georgia is the leading producer, in some years collections of pecans from wild trees in Oklahoma and Texas surpass the production in Georgia.
The table can be filled with many different types of foods, and it differs from family to family. However, there are some foods that are seen at almost every Thanksgiving table. First off, the turkey, it is the most important part of the celebration for most families in the United States. There are multiple reasons to why the turkey has become such a big part of Thanksgiving. For example, a colonist named William Bradford wrote in his journals that colonists hunted wild turkeys during autumn of 1621, which is named as the first Thanksgiving. Another reason to why the turkey is an important part of the holiday is because the birds are big and can feed a lot of people compared to other birds such as chickens (Trex, 2008). Although the turkey is the most important food on the table for most families, it is common for most families to also serve some sort of sweet potatoes, for example, a sweet potato casserole with marshmallows. As Thanksgiving is a feast holiday a dessert is usually also served, one of the most common desserts on Thanksgiving is a pumpkin pie. The pumpkin has been around for hundreds of years, and always been a part of thanksgiving, however, it is more likely that the pumpkin was served after being baked or stewed rather than a pie on the first years when Thanksgiving were celebrated (Trex, 2008). As it is a feast holiday the table has many more types of foods, but it varies from family to family what is put onto the table, however, the turkey, sweet potatoes, and the pumpkin pie is almost always found at every Thanksgiving
...turkey become the main part of this holiday meal after the first Thanksgiving? It would not have made sense to feast on chickens or cows because they produce useful foods such as eggs and milk. Wild turkeys were larger than chickens and easier to hunt than geese, so it made more sense to eat them on Thanksgiving. The birds are large enough to feed many people and unlike pork, turkey wasn't so common that it didn't seem like a suitable choice for a special occasion (5).
... that adult pumpkin beetles feed on the foliage of cucurbits, sometimes cutting and removing circular discs?
Nicky’s father took his son out with the intention of having him look for a pumpkin and bringing it back home. Not at all did he suspect to encounter anything more but indeed he did. Nicky and his father went looking for a pumpkin at as place that he describes as “a piece of land so devoid of life and interest that from January to October, I’m certain, no one sees it at all”.
From all historical accounts, it seems that fruit pies as we now know them were invented by the Pennsylvania Dutch. Women in the southeastern counties of the state made delicious, crispy pies encasing every fruit in the region. “It may be,” states Frederick Klees, “that during the Revolution men from the other colonies came to know this dish in Pennsylvania and carried this knowledge back home to establish pie as the great American dessert” (191). Additionally, this pie gained popularity at the triumphant end of the war and the beginning of our country. The recipe migrated north, farmer’s wives learned to make this more involved pie, and consumption swelled. Colonists loved pie so much they ate it for every meal, but, notably, not every farmer could afford it. Thus, pies evolved into a symbol of status. Thomas Jefferson made his own recipe, Ben Franklin grew prize apples in his backyard for his pies, and Martha Washington even served this dessert at diplomatic dinners! Indeed it is the fruition of this unique, thick, two-crusted apple pie, rather than the thin, one-crust English pie, in which we invest our pride. Ever wonder why July 4th parties are marked by apple pies? It’s a carryover from first Independence Day celebrations when the apple pie was at its peak importance to Americans.
There's non- organic milk in it. There is actually no pumpkin in the pumpkin spice latte, it also has artificial flavors in it. I don’t know why everybody goes to Starbucks to get the latte PROBABLY BECAUSE STARBUCKS IS THE BEST.
How many items in your pantry contain a corn product? Whether you know it or not, chances are that all of them do. When one thinks of corn, images of corn on the cob or popcorn may come to mind. Corn however is not grown solely for those summer barbeques or movie theater snacks. From the edible to the inedible, corn appears in all shapes and sizes.
pumpkin rolls are two of the most famous of the pumpkin traditions that can be carried on
Apples can be grown farther North than any other tree fruit. The reason for this is that the tree blooms in late spring when it is unlikely that the blossoms will be harmed by frost. While France harvests more apples than America, the yearly U.S. harvest is around one hundred and fifty million bushels, with the largest apple-growing state being Washington.
A healthy thanksgiving with the apple recipes Apple is one of the common fruit found in all part of the world. Most of the people consume apple as it is a healthy fruit. It has variety of shapes and colours and people take this fruit for granted. Red is the common colour and it strikes the most when we think about apple.
My second point is that if by any chance that they were right, then would the pumpkin be magical, and not change at all? Washington Irving Specifically states that the pumpkin “...a shattered pumpkin”. This means that there was no supernaturalistic stuff in this. My third point is that straight up, magic doesn't exist in real life, so he wouldn't have been magically shipped away.
Similar to tomato, pumpkin and pepper, watermelon is a fruit. It has a large, oblong fruit that is noted for its sweet and refreshing qualities.