LADY BUG: PUMPKINS HAVE THEIR DAY ON HALLOWEEN

Halloween has become a much celebrated holiday. Visitors from other countries are surprised at all of the Halloween decorations for sale in commercial establishments and how they are used to decorate the outside of homes as well as yards. This practice has come about mostly within the past 10 years.

Colored leaves, cornstalks, chrysanthemums, various types of gourds, Jack-o'-lanterns (both real and ceramic and pottery), improvised tombstones, goblins, ghosts and black cats are some of the outdoor mementos of Halloween.

Pumpkins are fewer and costlier this year because of our extremely hot, dry summer, which caused many blooms to drop from the vines. Also, there was a pumpkin virus plus an early light frost, all of which contributed to a poor crop, say the pumpkin farmers in Southeast Missouri and Southern Illinois.

Sizes of pumpkins range from a huge champion, which weighed 840 pounds, to the variety Jack-be-little, which can be held in the palm of a hand. To raise giant pumpkins, farmers plant special seeds. It is said that some pumpkins gain as much as 10 pounds a day.

It is known that pumpkins may cross with winter squash, a close relative, or acorn, summer crookneck, zucchini, white bush scallop squash or even ornamental gourds. Although of the same family, they will not cross with muskmelons, cucumbers or watermelons.

There are many superstitions and fairy tales associated with pumpkins and Halloween. We have been awed by this vegetable's influence on children's literature, by its romantic transformation in Cinderella, or horrified at its use as a cage to confine the wife of Peter, the pumpkin eater. A pumpkin head provided the dramatic impact in The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, and sympathy in some of the sequels to The Wizard of Oz.

There is another legend that says that at midnight on Halloween all pumpkins leave their vines and dance across the fields.

While the pumpkin is native to Central and South America, Halloween dates back to the Celts of Britain and Northern France. They believed that on the date we know as Oct. 31, the spirits of all ancestors rose and congregated to be given their assignments during the coming year. Anyone who went out on that night carried a lantern for protection from the spirits.

Jack-o'-lanterns cast their eerie light in Scotland long before the Halloween pumpkin was introduced to America, according to Ray Rothenberger, University of Missouri horticulturist.

When the early settlers came to America, turnips did not normally grow as large as in their native land. Pumpkins, however, were larger and did not have to be hollowed out, and were much showier. It is said this is the way the tradition gradually changed to the one that we have today with pumpkins and harvest festivals of fall produce.

We are told that in Scotland it was the custom to hollow out large turnips or rutabagas and place a candle in them. Originally, holes were put in the sides only to shed light, but later these became faces, possibly to frighten evil spirits.

An Irish legend may explain the name jack-o'-lanterns for the face-bearing lanterns. A man named Jack -- so the story goes -- was so mean, stingy and tricky that after he died he went to the devil, who did not want him because he was so miserable.

When Jack arrived, eating a turnip, the devil tossed him a burning coal and said, "Put this inside the turnip you are eating, and this will be your lantern.

So Jack can be seen on Halloween to this day, carrying his lantern and still looking for a place to stay.

It is also said that people originally wore costumes on Halloween to hide from the ghosts of the lost souls that were thought to roam the earth at night. The ghosts were trying to right the wrongs they had committed before they died, so they could be accepted into heaven.

The custom of wearing costumes may date from the early 12th century when many of the churches had parades in which the people dressed up as their patron saints or angels or devils in honor of All Saints' Day, the day following All Hallow's Eve.

Some cities have had parades to honor the day and special events for children. Denver, Cincinnati, Dallas, Kansas City, Des Moines and New York City have had Halloween festivities.

With all the decorations, costuming and activities, do not pass by all of the good things that can be made from pumpkins. This is the time to let the family taste pumpkin pie, pumpkin cookies, cake muffins, bars and bread.

~Mary Blue is a resident of Cape Girardeau and an avid gardener.