The Great Pumpkin Proves its Worth, Sincerely
October 27, 2008
Who can forget Linus Van Pelt’s lonely vigil on Halloween night, waiting for the Great Pumpkin to rise out of the most sincere patch of the mighty orange gourds, in a It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown?
Not the thousands of children now visiting the local, and sincere, pumpkin patches in the City of Richmond, to choose the perfect specimen for Halloween’s jack-o’-lantern, or the parents who then have to deal with gooey innards and scorched shells post festivities. And certainly not today’s food gurus, who have put the sincere squash back on the trendy food list.
Using pumpkins as lanterns at Halloween is based on an ancient Celtic custom brought to America by Irish immigrants. All Hallows Eve on October 31 marked the end of the old Celtic calendar year. On that night, hollowed-out turnips, beets and rutabagas with a candle inside were placed on windowsills and porches to welcome home spirits of deceased ancestors and ward off evil spirits and a restless soul named "Stingy Jack", hence the term “jack-o'-lantern”. The Irish turned to pumpkins when they arrived in North America, which were more plentiful and easier to carve.
Today the multi-tasking pumpkin proves to be far more than just a disposable candle stick holder.
Have Jack for dinner
Within the first 24 to 48 hours of carving, depending on conditions, Jack can be salvaged for a post-Halloween feast.
Pumpkins are not only edible, they’re a healthy, abounding in lutein and alpha- and beta-carotene (all are antioxidants). So, rather than toss the seeds and meat when carving, visit http://www.joyofbaking.com/ or www.epicurious.com (under “pumpkin”) for delicious recipes from soups to seeds and serve Jack at your next dinner party.
Not hungry for pumpkin today? Simply puree the pumpkin and freeze for another day’s baking or cooking.
Put Jack in the box
Worms like Jack. In fact, whether finely chopped and mixed with yard trimmings in a backyard composter or in a porch/balcony vermicompost bin, the worms will help create a nutrient-rich compost that can be used to grow next year’s Jack.
Add curb appeal
Richmond Yard Trimmings Collection Program will pick up pumpkins left on the curb if in a securely fastened clear bag of manageable weight, or mixed in with the fall leaves. Be sure to put out your yard trimmings after 8 p.m. the night before collection day, or before 8 a.m. on the day of collection.
Return Jack to his roots
Dig a shallow trench in the vegetable or flower garden, disperse shredded pieces of Jack throughout and back fill. This diverts beneficial solid waste from the landfill.
Pumpkin Trivia
- It’s estimated that well over one million kilograms of pumpkins are carved up annually in the Lower Mainland.
- BC produces about 3 million pounds of pumpkins a year. These are valued at almost $400,000 per year.
- Pumpkins are orange because they contain massive amounts of antioxidants such as lutein, alpha- and beta-carotene. These nutrients turn to vitamin A in the body.
- Pumpkins originated in Central America.
- Pumpkins are 90 percent water.
- Boston, MA shattered all previous records in 2007 by lighting 30,128 pumpkins simultaneously. They’re still glowing over their feat.
- Jake Van Kooten of Port Alberni is the reigning King of Pumpkins, following a weigh off in Elk Grove, California in early October. His gourd weighed in at 696.95 kgs (1,536.5 lbs), good for the Canadian record, and the biggest pumpkin to date this season.
- Pumpkins were once recommended for removing freckles and curing snake bites.
For more information, please call 604-233-3318.
