Today October 26th is National Pumpkin Day.
Having grown pumpkins for the last 20+ years I'm still amazed how you can plant seeds the size of your finger nail and you end up with a huge patch full of pumpkins. Depending on the variety you'll have pumpkins that fit in the palm of your hand all the way up to ones that take a fork lift to pick up.
With Halloween just around the corner the spotlight is on pumpkins as they are being transformed into Jack-O’-Lanterns. Irish immigrants brought the concept of carving to the U.S.A. Back in Ireland they didn't have pumpkins so the lanterns were made using turnips or potatoes. Arriving in America the Irish were pleased to discover the squash that's native to North America that would make carving a lot easier to do thanks to its size.
For the record the oldest evidence of pumpkin-related seeds dates back to somewhere between 7000 and 5500 BC from seeds found in Mexico. The United States at last count produces over 1.5 billion pounds of pumpkins.

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