🎃 Pumpkin

Cucurbita pepo

A big, round, orange squash that grows on a vine along the ground.

Round and ribbed with thick orange skin and a curly stem on top, sometimes very heavy.

Sweet and mild, a little like a soft, buttery squash when cooked.

Full of beta-carotene for vitamin A, which helps your eyes, plus fiber to keep your tummy happy.

Cook it into soup, pie, or bread, and roast the seeds for a crunchy snack.

Grows from a seed on a long, leafy vine, swelling bigger and bigger until harvest in fall.

Best in the fall, which is why we see so many pumpkins in autumn.

Pumpkins first grew in the Americas thousands of years ago and were an important food for native people.

Some giant pumpkins grown for contests can weigh more than a small car.

Save the seeds when you carve or cook a pumpkin, rinse them, and roast them with a pinch of salt.