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Last Issue:
Tuesday,
December
18
2007
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A Bit of Pumpkin Lore
Tomorrow is Halloween, the one day of the year when playing dress-up is suitable for boys and girls of all ages, when fruits are decorations (yes, pumpkin is a fruit), and when children can beg for candy at strangers' doors and be rewarded.
The pumpkin, an icon for the holiday, was originally a food source for Native Americans but has since become basically ornamental," according to Bob Rouse, regional Maryland Extension Service vegetables and fruits specialist, for the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources. For approximately 10 years, Rouse has been studying pumpkins, trying to find ways to improve overall crop health. As a result, he said has "a reputation for growing pumpkins."
Some people might be surprised to learn there are more than 50 varieties of pumpkin. The three main types are true squash, moschata and the true pumpkin. Rouse said he studies 24 of the varieties while "attempting to improve the quality of pumpkin production." Farmers had been having problems with the handles falling off of their pumpkins, a sign of disease or rot, so Rouse began working with a team of specialists to improve the situation.
Every year, Rouse and his colleagues at the Wye Research and Education Center hold a "Pumpkin Twilight meeting" where farmers are "invited to walk through trials, discuss any problems they have and basically, talk pumpkin." This gives the pumpkin growers an opportunity to learn new techniques for growing and maintaining their pumpkins. They also discuss good marketing techniques. The Wye Research and Education Center, for example, offers tours to school children and each can take home a pumpkin. The center also holds events such as Field Day, which allows the public to tour the facility and learn about the ongoing research and how it benefits the community and environment. Many farmers sell their pumpkins to markets and stores such as Wal-Mart; others sell them directly to the customers. Almost all of the pumpkins, however, whether bought at a store or on the farm, will be made into jack-o'-lanterns. Some will be scary, carved to look like witches or vampires; others will be cheerful, with smiles and buckteeth. According to Encarta, the jack-o'-lantern originated in Scotland between the 15th and 17th centuries as large, carved turnips. Many different stories tell the tale of the jack-o'-lantern, but few, if any, know the true story. Some say a night watchman used a hollowed-out turnip with a flame inside to light his way, others say a spirit could not enter heaven and was denied by Satan, who instead of allowing the spirit access, gave him an ember. The spirit then placed the ember in a hollowed-out turnip so he could see his way in the eternal darkness on earth.
Halloween evolved from the Celtic tradition of Samhain, which marked the end of one crop year and the beginning of another. According to Encarta, at sundown on October 31, the spirits of the people who had died during the year would roam the earth and the living would offer the spirits food and drink to ward them off.
-Cynthia Owens
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