Pumpkins are a curious plant. Placed in pies, soups, cookies, breads, and even on Halloween doorsteps, the preponderance or practical purposes and possibilities for this popular produce are plentiful.
People have cultivated crops of pumpkins for thousands of years. The oldest domesticated pumpkin seeds were discovered by scientists in the Oaxaca Highlands of Mexico. Those seeds date back 7,500 years.
That’s just a start, here are 10 more fun facts about pumpkins
- The name pumpkin originates from the Greek word “pepon” which means large melon.
- Native Americans made mats out of dried strips of pumpkin.
- Jack-o-Lanterns are names after the Irish mytholocial character “Sleepy Jack.”
- The largest pumpkin ever grown weighed in at an astonishing 2,528 pounds.
- Pumpkin pie is considered an American cuisine.
- Australians love pumpkin soup.
- Pumpkins come in all sorts of colors, including orange, blue, and yellow.
- Pumpkins are grown on every populated continent.
- Pumpkin flowers are edible.
- The U.S.A. grows over 1.5 billion pounds of pumpkin each year.
As mentioned earlier, pumpkins really are incredible and supremely healthy. They are a great food to consider when trying to sneak veggies into your diet.
