The name pumpkin originated from the Greek word for "large melon" which is "pepon." "Pepon" was nasalized by the French into "pompon." The English changed "pompon" to "Pumpion." Shakespeare referred to the "pumpion" in his Merry Wives of Windsor. American colonists changed "pumpion" into "pumpkin." The "pumpkin" is referred to in The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, Peter, Peter, Pumpkin Eater and Cinderella.

People have been making jack-o-lanterns at Halloween for centuries. The practice originated from an Irish myth about a man nicknamed "Stingy Jack." According to the story, Stingy Jack invited the Devil to have a drink with him. True to his name, Stingy Jack didn't want to pay for his drink, so he convinced the Devil to turn himself into a coin that Jack could use to buy their drinks. Once the Devil did so, Jack decided to keep the money and put it into his pocket next to a silver cross, which prevented the Devil from changing back into his original form. Jack eventually freed the Devil, under the condition that he would not bother Jack for one year and that, should Jack die, he would not claim his soul. The next year, Jack again tricked the Devil into climbing into a tree to pick a piece of fruit. While he was up in the tree, Jack carved a sign of the cross into the tree's bark so that the Devil could not come down until the Devil promised Jack not to bother him for ten more years.

Soon after, Jack died. As the legend goes, God would not allow such an unsavory figure into heaven. The Devil, upset by the trick Jack had played on him and keeping his word not to claim his soul, would not allow Jack into hell. He sent Jack off into the dark night with only a burning coal to light his way. Jack put the coal into a carved out turnip and has been roaming the Earth with it ever since. The Irish began to refer to this ghostly figure as "Jack of the Lantern," and then, simply "Jack O'Lantern."

In Ireland and Scotland, people began to make their own versions of Jack’s lanterns by carving scary faces into turnips or potatoes and placing them into windows or near doors to frighten away Stingy Jack and other wandering evil spirits. In England, large beets are used. Immigrants from these countries brought the Jack o’Lantern tradition with them when they came to the United States/North America. They soon found that pumpkins, a fruit native to America, make perfect Jack O'Lanterns. (Source: The History Channel)

Some Pumpkin varieties (plan on some for next year to grow for eating as well as carving):

Pumpkin Varieties

Standard Orange (Small)
All 2 to 5 pounds, 100 to 110 days to harvest

Baby Bear (small, flattened shape; fine stem)
Baby Pam; Oz (hybrid, semi-bush; very smooth skin, heavy stem, immature yellow color)
Small Sugar or New England Pie (the standard pie type) This is one variety I grow
Spooktacular (hybrid; bright orange; ribbed; strong stem)
Sugar Treat (hybrid; semi- bush; bright color)
Winter Luxury (old variety, good for cooking; unique netted skin)

Standard Orange (Intermediate)
All 8 to 15 pounds, 100 to 110 days to harvest

Autumn Gold (hybrid, yellow when immature)
Bushkin (hybrid, bush type)
Frosty (hybrid; smooth-textured skin)
Funny Face (hybrid)
Harvest Moon (hybrid)
Jack-o-Lantern
Spirit (hybrid, semi-bush)
Young's Beauty

Standard Orange (Large)
All 15 to 25 pounds, 100 to 110 days to harvest

Aspen (hybrid, deep orange, uniformly large)
Big Autumn (hybrid, yellow when mature)
Big Tom (selection of Connecticut Field)
Connecticut Field (the old standard, continually reselected) This is another variety I grow
Ghost Rider (dark orange; very dark green handle)
Happy Jack (uniform, dark orange; good handle)
Howden Field (the industry standard for the last 20 years) This is yet another variety I grow
Jackpot (hybrid; round; compact vine habit)
Jumpin' Jack (large, dark orange, heavy, tall fruit)
Pankow's Field (large, variable pumpkins with exceptionally large, long handles).

Rouge Vif d'Estampes is a C. maxima type that is deep red-orange, flattened, heavily sutured. It was the prototype for Cinderella's carriage pumpkin and is sometimes sold as "Cinderella" pumpkin. I have to check, but I think I was sent some of this variety from France in 2009 for the 2010 growing season. I think it is a beautiful pumpkin.

Processing
All C. moschata, tan skin color, widely used for commercially canned pumpkin

Buckskin (hybrid)
Chelsey (hybrid)
Dickinson Field
Kentucky Field

Jumbo
All C. maxima, 50 to 100 pounds, or much more; 120 days to harvest

Atlantic Giant (most true giants come from selections of this variety)
Big Max This is another variety my family grew when I was a child and what my brother and I won the Oregon Largest Pumpkin contest in 1977(?)
Big Moon
Mammoth Gold
Prizewinner (hybrid; most uniform size, shape, orange color; not the largest, but the most dependable)

White Painting

Casper, Lumina and Snowball (all C. maxima)
Little Boo (C. Pepo)

Cushaw group

Green-Striped Cushaw, Sweet Potato, Tennessee, and White Cushaw (all C. mixta) I have grown the Sweet Potato
Golden Cushaw (C. moschata)

Naked-Seeded
All C. pepo

Trick or Treat (hybrid, semi-bush, 10 to 12 pounds, good for carving)
Tricky Jack (hybrid; small; bush type)
Triple Treat (thick flesh; 6 to 8 pounds; cooks, carves well) I thought about growing this at one time, but another variety won out.

I may grow "Lady Godiva" one day which is also a naked-seed.

Miniature
All C. pepo

Baby Boo (white)
Jack-Be-Little (standard orange miniature) This is another variety my family grew for many years and they cook up very well for a one serving meal per person.
Jack-Be-Quick (taller, darker orange)
Munchkin (uniform, attractive orange fruit)
Sweetie Pie (small, scalloped, medium orange fruit)

The bright orange color of pumpkin is a dead giveaway that pumpkin is loaded with an important antioxidant, beta-carotene. Beta-carotene is one of the plant carotenoids converted to vitamin A in the body. In the conversion to vitamin A, beta carotene performs many important functions in overall health.

Current research indicates that a diet rich in foods containing beta-carotene may reduce the risk of developing certain types of cancer and offers protect against heart disease. Beta-carotene offers protection against other diseases as well as some degenerative aspects of aging.

Pumpkin Nutrition Facts
(1 cup cooked, boiled, drained, without salt)

Calories 49
Protein 2 grams
Carbohydrate 12 grams
Dietary Fiber 3 grams
Calcium 37 mg
Iron 1.4 mg
Magnesium 22 mg
Potassium 564 mg Zinc 1 mg
Selenium .50 mg
Vitamin C 12 mg
Niacin 1 mg
Folate 21 mcg
Vitamin A 2650 IU
Vitamin E 3 mg

After I get all the seeds out of the pumpkin, I put them into a strainer/colander and then rinse them in cold running water to get all the orange 'goo' off. I then let them drain and then sometimes pat them dry. I then put them into a bowl and add sesame seed oil and a splash or two of soy sauce and let them sit for about an hour. Then I drain them, put them on a cookie sheet and bake them in a slow oven (less than 200F) until taste testing tells me they are ready to pull out of the oven and cool off. It is a very good excuse for taste testing as well. Don't overcook them and dry them out so they are too crunchy or burnt, also make sure they are done enough in the middle that they are not 'doughy'. With the soy sauce you do not have to salt them. Use a soy sauce that does not have MSG in it.

Fun Pumpkin Facts

Total U.S. pumpkin production in 2008 in major pumpkin producing states was valued at $141 million.
Total production of pumpkins by major pumpkin-producing states in 2008: 1.1 billion pounds
496 million pounds of pumpkins were produced in Illinois in 2008.
The top pumpkin production states are Illinois, Ohio, Pennsylvania and California.
The top ten pumpkin producing counties in Illinois are Tazewell, Kankakee, Mason, Logan, Will, Marshall, Kane, Pike, Carroll and Woodford.
Pumpkins are grown primarily for processing with a small percentage grown for ornamental sales through you-pick farms, farmers’ market and retail sales.
Around 90 to 95% of the processed pumpkins in the United States are grown in Illinois.
Pumpkin seeds can be roasted as a snack.
Pumpkins contain potassium and Vitamin A.
Pumpkins are used for feed for animals.
Pumpkin flowers are edible.
Pumpkins are used to make soups, pies and breads.
The largest pumpkin pie ever made was over five feet in diameter and weighed over 350 pounds. It used 80 pounds of cooked pumpkin, 36 pounds of sugar, 12 dozen eggs and took six hours to bake.
Pumpkins are members of the vine crops family called cucurbits.
Pumpkins originated in Central America.
In early colonial times, pumpkins were used as an ingredient for the crust of pies, not the filling.
Pumpkins were once recommended for removing freckles and curing snake bites.
Pumpkins range in size from less than a pound to over 1,000 pounds.
The largest pumpkin ever grown weighed 1,140 pounds.
The name pumpkin originated from "pepon" – the Greek word for "large melon."
The Connecticut field variety is the traditional American pumpkin.
Pumpkins are 90 percent water.
Pumpkins are fruit.
Eighty percent of the pumpkin supply in the United States is available in October.
In colonial times, Native Americans roasted long strips of pumpkin in an open fire.
Colonists sliced off pumpkin tops; removed seeds and filled the insides with milk, spices and honey. This was baked in hot ashes and is the origin of pumpkin pie.
Native Americans flattened strips of pumpkins, dried them and made mats.
Native Americans called pumpkins "isqoutm squash."
Native Americans used pumpkin seeds for food and medicine.