Pumpkins, pumpkins and more pumpkins! 

Everywhere you turn there are masses of colourful pumpkins. Besides knowing they are good for pies and carving for Halloween, how are you with pumpkin trivia?

Why not carve out (pun intended) some time to read these interesting facts about pumpkins?

Pumpkins are classified as a type of gourd. They are also categorized as a winter squash.

It is believed that pumpkins originated in Central America and Mexico over 7,500 years ago. Even though they got their start in Central America, the name “pumpkin” comes from the Greek word “pepon,” meaning large melon.

Pumpkins range in size from miniature, measuring only two to three inches in diameter, to massive monsters. 

About 90 per cent of all pumpkins are water. According to the Guinness World Records, in 2023, a pumpkin weighing in at a whopping 2,749 pounds squashed (pun intended) previous records by 47 pounds. 

The owner of this giant collected $30,000 in prize money. Now that’s using your gourd!

There are more than 45 different kinds of pumpkins being grown now on every continent — except for Antarctica, as it has too short of a growing season for them.

Pumpkins are more than just colourful fall decorations. Many parts of them are edible. 

The bright golden orange flowers can be eaten raw or coated with battered and fried (yummy). The seeds, which are usually roasted, contain many health benefits as they are filled with vitamins, minerals and unsaturated fatty acids. 

Eating only a small amount of them can provide you with a substantial quantity of healthy fats, magnesium and zinc. The seeds are one of the best natural sources of magnesium. 

Pumpkin seeds also contain some antioxidants and small amounts of potassium, riboflavin and folate. Did you know that each pumpkin contains about 500 seeds? 

The fruit itself is rich in beta carotene which converts to vitamin A when eaten which is great for your eye and skin health and supports your immune system.

One source said that even the skin, leaves and stems are edible. I think I will just take their word for it. 

Here is another surprising fact for you: The first jack-o’-lanterns weren’t made from pumpkins at all. They were made from turnips!

An Irish folk tale said that “Stingy Jack” tried to trick the devil into paying for his bar tab. After Jack died, the devil wouldn’t let Jack cross over to the afterlife.

Instead, he had to wander Earth at night, lit by a single coal. He put his coal in a hollowed-out turnip and earned the nickname “Jack of the Lantern.”

This Irish tale led to the tradition of carving turnips in Jack’s likeness, to keep him at bay.  

When Irish emigrants moved to America, they found pumpkins much more suitable for carving than turnips, and the modern jack-o’-lantern was born. Maybe I will try carving a turnip this Halloween.

Here are two final facts in pumpkin trivia. 

The largest pumpkin pie ever made came from the New Bremen Pumpkinfest in Ohio.

This Guinness World Record-holding pie had a diameter of 20 feet and weighed 3,699 pounds.

Its crust was made from 440 sheets of dough. Just imagine the amount of whipped cream they would need! 

A man named Trevor Hunt holds the Guinness World Record for most pumpkins carved in an hour: He carved 109 pumpkins in 60 minutes, or just 33 seconds per pumpkin. Wow.

You are now ready to squash the competition with your new pumpkin trivia.

Joanne Young is a Niagara-on-the-Lake garden expert and coach. See her website at joanneyoung.ca