The kids and I pick up gourds and squash that we find to be “totally cool” and everyone gets their fill. Some of these special finds are used for home decoration, end up at school in show and tell time and some go home with daycare children that we have. I pick up a few squash to cook, which at first was not real popular at our house with the kids, but now they find that the squash they pick is not really so bad (brown sugar and butter help a lot!)  

At the farm we visit, they also have pumpkins that are grown specifically for making pumpkin pies. I can tell you that at first I was not excited to make my very own pumpkin pie from scratch but making it a family project, we now find it is as fun as wrapping Christmas presents. The calendar alone told me that it was fall in September, but my sense of smell and the pumpkin pie baking in the oven is always my way of welcoming fall again every year.     

Often times we set the pumpkins out as a display for harvest or Halloween decorations because we don’t like to carve them too early. We find that in the last week before Halloween we carve the pumpkins and the children take them home.

We are so glad that we discovered this way to spend a great time together with the family. Choosing pumpkins from a pumpkin patch is much better than picking them from your local store market. Check around and see if you can’t find a patch and start your own family tradition.

If you have the opportunity to choose your Halloween pumpkins from a farm this fall, I would encourage you to do so.

The last ten years I have taken my children and grandchildren out to a local farm to pick out our pumpkins. They have a hay wagon loaded with hay bales that we sit on. As the farmer pulls out very slowly, we know that our fall journey has begun. We are on our way to one of the finest times we spend together every year.

We travel over often slightly bumpy areas of ground, past recently harvested cornfields to our patch. This is a time where we are all together with no other sounds but that of the tractor and anxious children. The country farm smells are delightful and the kids laugh gleefully as we near the fields of pumpkins lying ahead.

I’m not sure if it’s the fact that we can walk all over, through the pumpkin fields or if it’s the camaraderie of just being together and having fun, but we always pick out far more pumpkins than we need.

Several categories exist in the contest. This heightens the competition since there can be more than one winner in more than one category. Some have created entire scenes on the face of a pumpkin.

The days of friendly snaggle-toothed faces on the front of the pumpkin are long gone in competition. The bar has been raised to include flaming pumpkins, gross looking pumpkins, pumpkins that resemble human faces, and elaborate pumpkin artistic scenes.

Besides the carving and the weighing is the eating. Pumpkin pie contests are another big attraction. Who can come up with the best pumpkin pie recipe? Afterwards, it’s time to eat and get stuffed just like one of those huge pumpkins.

Where are the pumpkin festivals in your area? Look it up on the web or the city’s website under “Events.” There is bound to be one close to attend with the entire family.

Pumpkin growers who attend festivals use the growing season to find a winning specimen from the rows and rows of orange beauties. Careful watering, fungicides, fertilizers, and debugging, all work together to grow large pumpkins.

One part of the pumpkin festival is the weigh-off. This is when contestants enter their prized unblemished pumpkins in a contest to see who has grown the heaviest pumpkin for that year. Many growers live for the weigh-off.

Depending on the pumpkin variety you are growing, some grow larger than others. Super large pumpkins can grow to be over 150 pounds each. That is a big pumpkin. I struggle with carrying a ten pounder out of the patch for decoration.

Pumpkin weigh-offs occur all across the country in every state. Depending on the state, they are held between September and November each year. Most weigh-offs center around pumpkin or fall festivals. The heaviest pumpkin gets to hold the title and the ribbon for an entire year. Now, the pumpkin may not survive that long, but the ribbon will look great on the mantle attached to a picture of the winning squash.

What’s inside the pumpkin? Well, if the sides are the face, then the gooey stuff inside could be thought of as the brains. The stringy strands are removed from the inside along with the pumpkin seeds that are meshed in with them.

The strands are not thrown away just yet. When the carving is done, the seeds are separated from the strands and roasted. The open area is now a cavity.

The skin is the colored side of the pumpkin. The skin covers the rind and the “meat” of the pumpkin. Most pumpkin skins are orange but can be other colors.

The pulp is the “meat” of the pumpkin that we eat in recipes. It can be eaten raw or used as an ingredient. Now, that we’ve dissected the pumpkin, it is time to put him back together and create a Jack o’ Lantern or holiday centerpiece.