The "Pumpkin...The Fruit For Many Seasons & Reasons!" Story

It was an ordinary day.  Reading the words to the English language nursery rhyme, "Peter, Peter, Pumpkin Eater."  Goes like this:

Peter, Peter,

pumpkin-eater,

Had a wife, and

couldn't keep her;

He put her in a

pumpkin-shell,

And there he

kept her very well.

Old time Nursery Rhyme

I remember this nursery rhyme from my youth and back then didn't understand it.  Still was fun to say so I never inquired as to what it might have meant.  Well, I'm still not sure exactly what it means, or if young children should be exposed to it.  Seems there are many different interpretations to the nursery rhyme with one interpretation stating that Peter had a wife who was very sexually active, and he couldn't keep her from running off.  He decided to do the unthinkable and murdered her, and he then stuffed her body into a pumpkin.  And, it is there that he kept her very well.  Tough to believe, since he must have had a pretty large pumpkin to accomplish that feat.  And, can this really be the meaning of the nursery rhyme or some sick person's idea of a joke?  Anyway, my story today is more about pumpkins and less about sex and murder.  Seems that we are very close to end of the prime pumpkin picking season and as you drive around Lancaster County, Pennsylvania you will find numerous roadside stands that are inundated with the orange squashes.  Many think of pumpkins as a vegetable, but both the decorative stars of the season as well as the best ingredient in a fall-flavored, best-ever pumpkin pie, is indeed a fruit.  

A pumpkin stand in Lancaster Amish country.

A friend of mine, Jim Erb, whom I had as a student and whom returned to the same school to teach alongside me, now has one of those stands along SR501 that has hundreds of pumpkins of both the decorative and cooking varieties.  Pumpkin pie is one of my favorites and the pumpkin pie that is sold at Costco is perhaps the best you will ever eat.  

Piece of Costco pumpkin pie.

That is unless you try my wife's pumpkin pie.  Oh yeah, she also makes a mean pumpkin bread and pumpkin cookies with caramel icing.  So when did the American colonies begin to make items with pumpkins.  Seems that settlers thought of the pumpkin as a food of last resort.  When there was no wheat for bread or yeast for beer they'd turn to the pumpkin.  As pumpkins were first looked upon as a food, they soon became associated with people whom were looked down upon in society in general.  "Pumpkin eater" or "pumpkin roller" was a derogatory term for a poor, ignorant farmer.  But, during the Civil War, pumpkin became a weightier symbol.  In the 20th century the pumpkin gained the favor by helping farmers.  With the growth of the automobile industry people from the large cities could drive to the countryside on weekends where farmers could draw them to their fruit and vegetable stands.  And in the fall season of the year, the pumpkin was king!  Pick-your-own pumpkin patches were and still are a favorite today.  The past few weeks saw Jim's stand filled with many cars.  He even had a wagon to transport people to his pumpkin patch so they could pick their own.  Many of the pumpkins can grow to a gargantuan size with one pumpkin last year reading 2,032 pounds grown by a farmer in Napa, California.  There is even a book called "How to Grow World-Class Pumpkins," by Don Landevin which was written in 1993.  So, why would anyone want to grow a pumpkin that large?  Maybe to enter it in one of the many contests for pumpkin growers or...maybe as a place to keep a wife after she had just been murdered!  Just saying!  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.

PS - While on a recent vacation to the island of Antigua, the resort where we stayed had a few items on its menu that were made of pumpkin.  Rather tasty and were a bit different.  Check out the photographs that follow...

Pumpkin Choker

Pumpkin Fritters

Pumpkin Soup