The Mighty Pumpkin: From Native American Fields to the Halloween Porch
Welcome along, fellow time travelers, and happy Halloween! Today our porches are lined with grinning pumpkins, but this round orange squash has a story that goes back thousands of years, long before anyone carved a face into it.
An ancient American food
Pumpkins and squashes are native to the Americas. Archaeologists have found squash seeds in Mexico that are roughly 10,000 years old, making squash one of the first plants ever cultivated in the Americas. Native American farmers grew squash together with corn and beans in a clever planting method known as the "Three Sisters." The corn stalks gave the beans something to climb, the beans enriched the soil, and the broad squash leaves shaded the ground and kept moisture in.
The pompion
When European explorers arrived, they were fascinated by these big golden squashes. The French called them pompon, and the English called them "pompions," from the Greek pepon, meaning "large melon" or "cooked by the sun." Over time, pompion became pumpkin. Early colonists in New England relied on pumpkins to get through long winters, stewing them, baking them in hot ashes and drying strips of pumpkin to store.
An early colonial verse, dating to around 1630, sang their praises: "For pottage and puddings and custards and pies, our pumpkins and parsnips are common supplies; We have pumpkins at morning and pumpkins at noon; If it were not for pumpkins, we should be undone."
Pumpkin pie arrives
Early pumpkin "pies" were sometimes made by hollowing out a pumpkin, filling it with milk, honey and spices, and baking it whole in the embers. Recipes for pumpkin pie in a crust appeared in English cookbooks in the 1600s, and American Cookery (1796) by Amelia Simmons, the first cookbook written by an American, included two pumpkin pudding recipes baked in a crust. In the 1800s, pumpkin pie became the beloved centerpiece of autumn feasts.
What Vitalogy said about pumpkins
Our namesake book, the 1904 household encyclopedia Vitalogy, included pumpkins in its guide to everyday vegetables. It noted that "squashes and pumpkins contain much water" and that they are "easily digested," which made them a gentle and welcome autumn dish in Victorian kitchens.
A nutritious harvest
Pumpkins are a colorful part of a balanced autumn diet. Their bright orange flesh gets its color from beta-carotene, and pumpkin seeds, roasted with a little salt, make a crunchy snack that Native Americans enjoyed long before the Pilgrims arrived. Pumpkin seeds have also been traditionally valued in folk herbal practice in Europe and the Americas.
From the field to the front porch
When Irish and Scottish immigrants came to America in the 1800s, they brought the tradition of carving lanterns from turnips. They soon discovered that the American pumpkin was larger and much easier to carve, and the pumpkin jack-o'-lantern was born. Today, Americans grow well over a billion pounds of pumpkins each year!
Celebrate the harvest
Roast some pumpkin seeds, bake a pie, and enjoy this all-American harvest treasure. Then visit VitalogyShoppe.com to explore our traditional formulas, such as Blood Pressure Support and Cholesterol Formula, each with its complete ingredient list on the product page.
So tell me, fellow time travelers: are you team pumpkin pie or team pumpkin bread?
These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease. This post shares history, folklore and traditional uses only.
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