If you are anything like the tiny people living in this household, you are more eagerly awaiting the arrival of pumpkins everyday. The harbinger of fall and TRICK OR TREAT (oh my gosh!), the Jack O' Lantern pumpkin or cucurbita maxima is thin shelled and bred for lantern making. Unlike the smaller "sugar pie" pumpkin, there is little flesh inside which tends to be tough and stringy to eat, but the many seeds inside are a delectable reward for hours of carving. (look for a recipe for roasting seeds in a few weeks!)
    Pumpkin, along with many winter squashes are native to the United States. They will grow "volunteer" from anywhere the seeds are cast and proliferate through early frosts into November. Native Americans have been growing winter squashes for centuries in a method called "the Three Sisters." Beginning in May, corn is planted and allowed to reach to six inches high; pole beans and pumpkins are then seeded. The beans use the corn to climb and help to fix nitrogen in the soil for the corn, which is a very heavy nitrogen feeder. The final lovely sister, the winter squash's very large leaves shade the soil, squeezing out weeds and helping reduce evaporation from the soil. Together they produce food that is highly nutritious, balanced and stores well! (To learn more about the Three Sisters follow this link.)
    Unlike how many plants reproduce, where they have both male and female parts in the same flower, winter squashes produce separate male and female flowers. Early in the plants development, it puts up exclusively male flowers on long stalks that rise above the heart shaped leaves. This trains pollinators to come to the plant for later when it is ready to produce fruit. At that time, the plant produces the female counterpart; a flower that looks nearly identical with a few distinctions. This flower is produced low and under the leaves, but most notable: it will have a little proto-squash at the base of the flower. Assuming that pollination is completed and water is plentiful, that little baby will grow into an impressive squash for you to eat or carve!
    We already have pumpkins, acorn squash, buttercup and butternut squash at the DFM. Look for them and more at Ruhlig's Produce (stalls 8 & 9) and MaryAnn Simpkins (stalls 3 & 4). The market is also looking for a good way to celebrate the end of the season and Halloween. Keep tuned in to find out how we can do it in a safe way this year!