Well, if you think a pumpkin is just something to eat or carve for Halloween think again. We’ve scared up some fun facts on this Halloween favourite!
- The first Jack O’ Lanterns were made from turnips.
- The largest pumpkin ever measured was grown by Ron Wallace, from Greene, Rhode Island. His 2009 pound pumpkin broke the world record at the Topsfield Fair in Topsfield, MA on September 28, 2012.
- Stephen Clarke holds the record for the world’s fastest pumpkin carving time: 24.03 seconds, smashing his previous record of 54.72 seconds. The rules of the competition state that the pumpkin must weigh less than 24 pounds and be carved in a traditional way, which requires at least eyes, nose, ears, and a mouth.
- Boston, Massachusetts, holds the record for the most Jack O’ Lanterns lit at once (30,128).
- Pumpkin seeds help avoid prostate cancer in men.
- Native Americans fed pieces of pumpkin to their horses.
- In 1999, Jerry Ayers of Baltimore, Ohio set a world record by carving one ton of pumpkins in seven hours and 11 minutes (and yes, they were detailed carvings).
- “Pumpkin Chunkin”, or “Pumpkin Chuckin” is a popular hobby. Pumpkins are thrown great distances using air canons or catapults. The world record for distance thrown stands at 4,483.51 feet. The record was set in 2008 at the annual Pumpkin Chunkin contest in Nassau, Delaware USA.
- Pumpkins originated in Central America.
- A pumpkin is really a squash belonging to the genus Cucurbita.
- Contrary to popular belief, a pumpkin is a fruit not a vegetable.
- Pumpkins are 90% water.
- The largest pumpkin pie weighed 3,699 pounds, and is 20 feet in diameter. It was made in New Bremen, Ohio in 2010 by the membership of the New Bremen Giant Pumpkin Growers. The pie contained 1,212 lbs of canned pumpkin, 2,796 eggs (233 dozen), 109 gallons of evaporated milk, 525 pounds of sugar, 7 pounds of salt and 14.5 pounds of cinnamon.
- Pumpkins are grown all over the world on six of the seven continents. The only continent pumpkins are not grown? That would be Antarctica!
World record pumpkin at Topsfield Fair in Topsfield, Massachusetts. Photo from: Steve Connolly – www.pumpkinnook.com
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