Its not all about size (Pumpkins)

Member Name: mumsymary

Product:	Pumpkins
Date:	27/09/06 (323 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: good fun to grow then decorate , tastes good too

Disadvantages: ?

How big is your pumpkin? big enough yet to carve a face for Halloween ?.















I have not grown any pumpkins this year although they do grow well in this country as well as in north America and some other north European countries.
I expect we will have a pumpkin lantern competition at school each class making a pumpkin lantern we usually do ,staff have more fun doing it than the kids ,

A Pumpkin is a squash fruit the genus Cucurbita Cucurbitaceae the pumpkin grows as a gourd on a plants vine that trails over the garden.
The pumpkin is a fruit that develops from a flower, the flower is yellow orange. Some flowers are male some female you need both to produce a fruit. They are pollinated by bees.
The pumpkin can be grown from a seed plant the seed in a sunny spot and the pumpkin needs lots of water to grow big, the pumpkin also likes well manured soil
.
A pumpkin takes between 120 and 150 days to grow till you can harvest your huge pumpkin So you can sow your seeds April /may indoors in a pot to give it a good start and end of may /June can plant it outside.
So it’s nearly Halloween your pumpkin is huge it is yellow /orange globe the skin is smooth, this is when its time to harvest your pumpkin.

You could of course just be growing the fruit for cooking and eating making pumpkin pie or pumpkin soup, maybe toast the seeds for snacking. The seeds are like sunflower seeds rich in potassium .magnesium and essential fatty acids

There are many. Recipes for cooking pumpkins pies, soups ,or biscuits http://www.pumpkinnook.com/cookbook.htm has loads I will not copy them here go to the site if you are interested.

Making a lantern from a pumpkin is an Irish tradition taken to America with the Irish immigrants. A lantern is made on all hallows eve 31st October. Lanterns made and put in windows to welcome home spirits of deceased relatives and to ward of evil spirits and the restless spirit stingless Jack.

To make your pumpkin cut of the top of your pumpkin with a sharp knife keep the top to one side. Remove the seeds from the inside with a large spoon there are lots of stringy fibres too. You may like to cut away some of the pumpkin flesh to make a bigger cavity. The flesh can be used in cookery, You may need to slice a portion off the bottom of your pumpkin to make it sit straight.

Ita a good idea to draw the face features on the pumpkin so you can carve these out easier there are some good feature designs at http://www.thepumpkinfarm.com/carvemenu.html.
If you wish to light up your pumpkin put a tea light/ candle inside it and the light will shine through the cut out features. If you make your pumpkin in advance keep it in your fridge it may keep a l;ittle better .
Have fun with your pumpkins thanks for reading . Mary

Summary: a gourd used to make lanterns from