1. The majority of the pumpkins that we see are orange but some types come in white, green, yellow or red.
2. The name pumpkin is of Greek origin. The Greek word ‘pepon’ means ‘large melon’.
3. Pumpkins have very thick shells that contain pulp and seeds.
4. In terms of cooking, pumpkins often referred to as vegetables. But in truth pumpkins are a fruit since they contain seeds.
5. Pumpkins are usually shaped like a ball.
6. An average-sized pumpkin weighs around 13 pounds or 6 kilograms.
7. Giant pumpkins are grown for competitions and weigh-offs. Some pumpkins weigh over 1000 pounds or 450 kilograms.
8. The largest pumpkin recorded in America was shown off at a Deerfield fair last year. It was grown by Steve Geddes, a grower from New Hampshire. It weighs an astonishing 2528 pounds beating the previous one that weighed 2363 pounds. It was grown by a grower of Steve Geddes From N.H.
9. Both male and female flowers are featured in Pumpkin plants. Bees play a big role in its being pollination.
10. Over 1.5 billion pumpkins are produced in America every single year. Ohio, Illinois, Indiana, Pennsylvania, and California are among the top producers.
11. The University of Illinois states that 95% of the pumpkins grown in America are harvested in Illinois. Morton produces 80% of the world’s canned pumpkin production.
12. Every part of a pumpkin is edible. You can eat its skin, leaves, flowers, pulp, stem, and seeds.
13. Despite their tough appearance, pumpkins are very delicate. Organisms start to eat them up once they get bruised or pierced.
14. Pumpkins can be roasted, steamed, baked, or boiled.
15. Pumpkin soup is widely popular and so are roasted pumpkin seeds.
16. Pumpkins are 90% made of water, which categorizes them as one of the low-calorie foods.
17. The biggest pumpkin pie ever baked weighed 3,699 pounds.
18. The pumpkin pie recipe originated in the colonies where the tops of pumpkins are cut off and seeds are removed. The pumpkins are filled with milk, honey and spices then baked in hot ashes.
19. Pumpkin pie originated in North America, This delicious sweet dessert is traditionally eaten during times of harvest and special holidays like Thanksgiving and Christmas.
20. Pumpkins are the most popular decors you can see during Halloween. A ‘jack-o-lantern’ is a carved pumpkin that is illuminated by candles. This tradition is said to have originated in Ireland, where people used to carve faces into beets, turnips, and other root vegetables to ward off evil spirits during a festival called Gaelic festival of Samhain.
21. A hundred-gram pumpkin gives you around 26 calories of energy.
22. Some people believe that pumpkins have properties that can remove freckles and cure poisonous snake bites.
23. In the old days, Native Americans used pumpkin seeds for both food and medicine. They also made mats using dried strips of pumpkins.
24. Pumpkins are relatives of cucumbers, honeydew melons, cantaloupe, watermelons, and zucchini. They belong to the same gourd family.
25. The pilgrims used pumpkins to make beer by fermenting maple sugar, hops, and persimmons.