Pumped About Pumpkins: 10 Fun Pumpkin Facts - Thinkery (2024)

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Pumped About Pumpkins: 10 Fun Pumpkin Facts - Thinkery? ›

The average pumpkin has approximately 500 seeds. Most pumpkins are orange because they contain a pigment called “carotene.” Carrots are another carotenoid-rich food. Pumpkins come in many different colors, including orange, yellow, green, white and blue. Do blue pumpkins blow your mind?

Pumpkins are a type of squash. They are in the gourd family, which means they have a hard skin, or shell, and grow on vines. You might think of them as a vegetable, but pumpkins are a fruit because they develop from a flower and hold the seeds of the plant. You may also think pumpkins are only orange, but think again!

And yes, all squashes are technically fruits as well. Each pumpkin contains about 500 seeds. Once they sprout, pumpkins take between 90 and 120 days to reach maturity. Learn more about the Life Cycle of a Pumpkin!

The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) estimates that Americans purchase 1.3 billion pounds of pumpkins each year for Halloween.

The word “pumpkin” originates from “peopon,” which means “large melon” in Greek. It then evolved to “pompon” in French and “pumpion” in Britain. The Americans later changed it to “pumpkin,” the name we still use today.

The four common types are Traditional Orange Pumpkins for carving and decorating, Pie Pumpkins for baking, Giant Pumpkins like the Atlantic Giant for competitions, and decorative varieties like the white Lumina or the small Baby Boo for ornamental use.

The oldest evidence of Cucurbita pepo are pumpkin fragments found in Mexico that are dated between 7,000 and 5,500 BC.

Pumpkin seeds are a rich source of protein, unsaturated fatty acids, vitamins, and minerals that may reduce your risk of getting chronic diseases, such as cancer. Pumpkin seeds are rich in many antioxidants, which protect your cells from disease-causing damage and reduce inflammation in your body.

For some reason “Pumpkin” is a common term of endearment. like “Honey” or “Sweetie”. It could be worse - the French called their loved ones “l*ttle Cabbage”. My mother called me pumpkin.

Pumpkins are 90 percent water The "pumpkin" is referred to in The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, Peter, Peter, Pumpkin Eater and Cinderella.

Is pumpkin a fruit? ›

A pumpkin, from a botanist's perspective, is a fruit because it's a product of the seed-bearing structure of flowering plants. Vegetables, on the other hand, are the edible portion of plants such as leaves, stems, roots, bullbs, flowers, and tubers.

Six of the seven continents can grow pumpkins including Alaska! Antarctica is the only continent that they won't grow in.

The average pumpkin has approximately 500 seeds. Most pumpkins are orange because they contain a pigment called “carotene.” Carrots are another carotenoid-rich food. Pumpkins come in many different colors, including orange, yellow, green, white and blue.

There's a good chance they were grown right here in Illinois, which leads the nation by a wide margin in pumpkin production. In fact, nearly 40 percent of the pumpkins produced in the United States come from Illinois.

Uncarved pumpkins can last for many months if stored in a cool, well-ventilated place. Both raw and cooked foods, including pumpkin guts, seeds and flesh, can be recycled using the weekly kerbside food waste service.

If you keep uncarved pumpkins out of the hot sun or freezing weather, you can expect them to last two to three months–plenty of time to make it through autumn. As to carved pumpkins, they can last as little as a few days, so keep that in mind if you want to display your carved masterpiece on Halloween night.