Pack a punch with pumpkins

Credit the Irish with putting a colorful face on Halloween. Carving jack-o'-lanterns is a Halloween custom brought to this country by Irish immigrants arriving to escape "the Hunger," or the Great Potato Famine of the 1840s.

"A legend grew up about a man named Jack, who was so stingy he was not allowed into heaven when he died," a U.S. State Department publication says. "He couldn't enter hell, either, because he had played jokes on the devil. As a result, Jack had to walk the Earth with his lantern until Judgment Day."

The Irish began the "Jack of the Lanterns" or jack-o' lantern tradition by slicing frightening facial features into turnips, beets or potatoes.

"But when the Irish brought their customs to the United States, they carved faces on pumpkins because in the autumn they were more plentiful than turnips," the State Department says.

The practice eventually spread worldwide, becoming in the process an enduring symbol of Halloween and the autumn harvest. Pumpkins are native to the Americas. Historians believe they were featured on the first Thanksgiving Day menu -- probably cut into strips and roasted by the Indians.

Increasingly, a strong back can be more important than a green thumb for growing pumpkins. It isn't uncommon for some of the larger hybrids to produce fruit weighing more than 1,200 pounds, says Everett Davis, who directs the North Carolina State University Cooperative Extension Center at Lumberton.

"Certain varieties grow much larger than the typical, but they're not all that edible," Davis says. "Folks that grow the giant pumpkins take things very seriously. They give their plants meticulous care. They treasure their seeds, making them family heirlooms."

The world's record runs well over 1,300 pounds. Fanciers predict that with the right seeds and the proper nurturing, it won't be long before pumpkins are produced that top a ton in size.

Pumpkins are grown most often for their ornamental value although they're also a popular ingredient -- often used interchangeably with squash or sweet potatoes -- in pies, soups, stews and breads, among other things.

"Most people don't take the time to cook like that anymore," Davis says. "The Connecticut field variety [with pumpkins maturing at 10 to 20 pounds apiece] is usually grown for jack-o'-lanterns. Miniatures the size of softballs are used for displays on tables."

Pumpkins favored for cooking -- the sweet or small sugar varieties -- usually are planted in spring and mature by midsummer, Davis says. Ornamentals can be planted as late as July, making them ripe for harvest by Halloween. Figure 110 to 120 days to maturity.

Most pumpkin cultivars are fragile. They're especially susceptible to frosts at planting and when nearing harvest. If you live in an area with a short growing season, you would be wise to start the plants indoors and then transplant the seedlings after the average date of the last killing frost.

Pumpkins need plenty of elbow room, with a single vine growing to more than 30 feet in length. But the vines are pliant. Their tendrils can be draped around companion plants like field corn or attached to fences to guide them along. Growers have been known to ripen pumpkins on their decks or from apartment balconies after training segments of the clingy vines, which have been freed of their fruit, to climb trellises.

Since the average pumpkin is about 80 percent water, it figures they need a steady supply of moisture to make it to maturity. "Pumpkins crave a lot of direct sun; anywhere from six to 10 hours a day," Davis says. "And watering is important. Most of the people striving for record-sized pumpkins use trickle down systems that provide constant water to the plants. You can provide fertilizer through the water to enrich."

Pruning also is important -- pruning both the vine and the fruit, Davis says. "You want as much leaf surface as you can get to catch the sunlight and the rain," he says. "But remove all the fruit developing on the plant save one. All the [plant's] energy then goes to that single pumpkin."

Pick your pumpkins after the shells harden and they turn from green to a rich orange, but leave six inches of stem or more on each. That helps them remain fresh.

Let the pumpkins sit in the garden for another week to 10 days to mature, then store (be careful if stacking) them in a cool, dry shed. Given the proper conditions, pumpkins will last through the heart of winter.

If you have found a variety you like, then you're in luck. Simply gather a few seeds from your prize pumpkins, dry and store them. They will be ready to produce a new crop for you with the next growing season.