Yep, it’s that time of the year as the fall and winter holidays begin with Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas. That means pumpkin,  pumpkin everywhere for the next few months. It all starts with the homemade jack o’ lanterns, real pumpkin  carving and then all the food. There are pies, cakes, cookies, ice cream, soup, bread, coffee, candies and so much more and most of it darn good. Here are some fun facts you may or may not know about the pumpkin.

The original jack-o’-lanterns were made with turnips and potatoes by the Irish. In England, they used large beets and lit them with embers to ward off evil spirits. Irish immigrants brought their customs to America, but found pumpkins were easier to carve,

Pumpkins are grown on every continent except Antarctica. Considering the landscape and weather that makes sense.

Over 1.5 billion pounds of pumpkin are produced each year in the United States.The top pumpkin-producing states are Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and California.

Morton, Illinois, calls itself the “Pumpkin Capital of the World.”According to the University of Illinois, 95% of the pumpkins grown in the U.S. are harvested in Illinois  and Morton is allegedly responsible for 80% of the world’s canned pumpkin production.

The world’s heaviest pumpkin weighed over one ton, coming in at 2,600 pounds. It was grown in Germany and presented in October 2016.That’s a lot of pie and that means……………….

The largest pumpkin pie ever baked weighed 3,699 pounds. Just think of how much whipped cream that would take.

Pumpkin-flavored sales totaled over $414 million in 2017. You can find pumpkin and pumpkin spice flavored products of every kind as wee mentioned above and new creations coming all the time.

There are more than 45 different varieties of pumpkin.They also are not just strictly orange  colored either. You can find them  in red, yellow and green and others as well.

Pumpkins are technically considered a fruit. Specifically, they are a winter squash in the family that oncludes includes cucumbers and melons.

And last……Every single part of a pumpkin is edible.You can eat the skin, leaves, flowers, pulp, seeds, and even the stem!

Okey Dokey now I am off to have a piece of pumpkin pie with my, pumpkin flavored coffee, pumpkin spice milk and then I will make some pumpkin bread to go with my pumpkin soup for dinner. Enjoy!

Information comes from https://www.goodhousekeeping.com/health/diet-nutrition/a22544/facts-about-pumpkins/