SALT LAKE CITY — With Halloween close by, pumpkins are showing up everywhere—from store displays to front-yard décor. Even though it’s easy to grab one from a local grocery store, pumpkins have a long and fascinating history that often goes unnoticed.
A Botanical Background
Botanically, pumpkins are types of winter squash, meaning they can be stored for months after harvest.
There isn’t just one species of squash that produces pumpkins. Instead, pumpkins come from three or four closely related squash species that have been selected and bred over centuries to produce fruit that looks similar.
These species are often interbred to develop new pumpkin and squash varieties.
An Ancient North American Crop
Pumpkins are native to North America and rank among the oldest cultivated crops in the world, with evidence of cultivation dating back 7,500 years.
Indigenous peoples ate pumpkin flesh fresh, dried it for later use, and ground it into flour for breads and soups. The flowers and young leaves were also used as food.
European settlers found pumpkins being grown by many tribes across the continent and quickly adopted the crop themselves. From there, they spread to the rest of the world.
Today, pumpkin varieties are found globally and are used primarily for cooking. Interestingly, China now grows more pumpkins than any other country.
While carving Jack-o’-Lanterns is a popular North American tradition—now spreading to the United Kingdom—it is not widely practiced elsewhere.
Cooking vs. Carving
We all love pumpkin pie, but Jack-o’-Lantern pumpkins aren’t the best choice for baking.
Their flesh is fibrous, stringy, and watery, and the flavor is mild. If you cook them, remove the strings, drain off excess water, and add sweetener and spices to improve the taste.
Instead, it is easier to use canned pumpkin and pie pumpkins (sometimes called “sugar pumpkins”), which are specifically bred for cooking and have dense, smooth, and flavorful flesh.
Look for Sugar Pie, Baby Pam, or Autumn Gold. Cinderella, Fairytale, Lumina, Jarrahdale, and Long Island Cheese are all great for soups and desserts.
Nutrition and Sustainability
Pumpkins are packed with nutrients. They’re rich in vitamin A, beta-carotene, and vitamin C, and they provide a good amount of dietary fiber.
After the season ends, pumpkins grown on farms rarely go to waste—livestock such as cows and pigs love them. Many farmers feed leftover pumpkins to their livestock, either by allowing the animals into pumpkin fields after Halloween or by collecting the fruit for feed.
Varieties to Try Next Year
Jack-o’-Lantern pumpkins are a very popular garden crop.
Both varieties are open-pollinated and will come back true to type, but you need to learn how to do that.
Other Jack-o-Lantern types include Mustang and Cronus. Many more exist.
If you want the biggest pumpkins, try Big Max or Dill’s Atlantic Giant. Atlantic Giant holds the current world record for the largest pumpkin ever grown, weighing over 1,300 pounds.
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