Great Gourds!

Brightening autumn fields and tables in Alberta, pumpkins are native to the Americas. They’re a welcome symbol of the harvest and were a staple for Aboriginal peoples and early settlers.

A member of the gourd family, pumpkins are versatile. Their flowers can be consumed as a delicacy and the seeds make for a high-protein snack. The orange flesh makes moist breads, muffins, soups, cookies and, of course, pies. Pumpkins also feed farm animals and decorate doorsteps at Halloween. Along with other squash, this iconic fruit belongs to a confusing family tree, but given its advantages, we forgive the complexity. 

Blossom by any other name
The floppy orange blossom of the squash was a Hopi emblem of fertility. In Korea, a homely girl is known as a “pumpkin flower.”

That’s pumpkin, to you
Pumpkins are from the genus Curcurbita, under which all types of summer and winter squash fall, divided into four species. Each type has many varieties. For example, all varieties of butternut squash and some varieties of pumpkin are C. moschata. Jack-o-lanterns and all types of summer squash fall under C. pepo. Big Max and other giant squash, some of which can weigh as much as a horse, as well as the beautiful, variegated turban squash are both varieties of C. maxima. Varieties of the re-maining species, C. mixta, are often used in canning.

Sweetie
When selecting a pumpkin for pies, choose one especially for the purpose. Smaller and sweeter, they contain less water than Halloween pumpkins. Some bakers add acorn squash to their pies.

Skins alive
Different types of squash have different coloured skins, from the green of acorn squash to the yellow of spaghetti squash, all the way to the myriad oranges of pumpkins. Green pumpkins are unripe. They will ripen and turn orange if left in the sun, but one or two deep greens in a sea of orange makes for a pretty display. Generally, skins of winter squash are harder, while summer squash have soft skins.

Top seeded
Pumpkin and squash seeds are high in zinc, iron and magnesium and may promote prostate health. Inside the white hull is a tender green seed, rich in essential fatty oils and great in baking, ground in flour or eaten by the mitt-full. Whole seeds are delicious roasted, lightly spiced and salted.

Orange you glad?
The luxurious colour of pumpkin and squash flesh is a sure indicator of the cancer-fighting antioxidant, beta-carotene, contained within.

Waterworks
Pumpkins are 90 per cent water. It’s the other 10 per cent that counts.

Join the festivities

The Great White North Pumpkin Fair and Weigh-Off takes place in Smoky Lake on the first Saturday in October. It attracts so many onlookers and competitors that the town of 1,010 swells by five times. Growers haul gourds from across the west for a shot at having theirs crowned the heaviest pumpkin, squash or watermelon. Festivities extend to town-wide garage sales, flea markets, a beef supper, threshing bee, dance, art show, and golf tournament. For more information, visit www.smokylake.ca.