The "How Big Is Your Pumpkin? Story

It was an ordinary day.  Getting set for the upcoming holiday known in the United States as Halloween.  Bought a really big bag of candy bars just in case we have a hundred trick or treaters.  Made sure I bought my favorite candy bars!  Hoping we have our usual dozen or so.  Now the candy is nice, but one of my favorite Halloween treats is my wife's pumpkin pie.  Halloween just wouldn't be the same without pumpkin pie.  As I was looking for some information on pumpkins, I came across some of the most unusual information about pumpkins.  Seems that in 1979, a Nova Scotia farmer had grown a particularly large pumpkin. He decided to bring it to a fair near Philadelphia, PA that was holding a contest for largest pumpkin.  Thing weighed 438.5 pounds.  Took first place.  And, his son recalled that his dad felt crazy to leave the farm just to show off a big pumpkin.  Then in 1980 his pumpkin was even bigger. Following year it was bigger yet!  Seems there was something special about the seeds which he called Dill's Atlantic Giant.  Did you know that pumpkins have either male or female reproductive organs.  The pumpkin seed bears flowers with the male flowers having a stamen with pollen on it and others have a small bulge which is the beginnings of a pumpkin, or an egg.  In order for the pumpkin to grow, the pollen from the male flower has to get into the female flower. Sounds kind of fishy to me, but that's what I read so it must be true!  Some farmers  rely on bees while other farmers pollinate by hand to get plants with proven genetic lines.  It's not unusual to get a pumpkin that weighs over 1000 pounds by doing it that way.  Also read that some farmers talk to their pumpkins while others water them with milk to give them extra calcium.  Some use an organic soil-enhancer.  There is actually a book called "How to grow World-Class Giant Pumpkins."  Then at the end of the year there is a yearly pumpkin convention.  So, why would anyone want to grow a 1,000 pound pumpkin?  I don't know!  I guess the bigger it is the more soup, desserts and even bread you can make.  And the real big ones make for great Jack-o'-lanterns.  Can you imagine a 1,000 pound Jack-o'-lantern?  Take an entire string of bulbs to light it up.  A few final facts about the pumpkin are: (1) they are low in calories, fat, and sodium and high in fiber.  

One of my favorites, pumpkin pie!

So, do you like pumpkin pie?  One of my favorites along with apple, cherry, peach, banana cream, coconut cream, lemon meringue, rhubarb, and shepherd's pie.  Yeah, I know shepherd's pie isn't made with fruit, but I still like it.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.