Uses and Purpose of Pumpkin

Pumpkin is a gourd-like squash of the genus Cucurbita and the family Cucurbitaceae (which also includes gourds). It is a common name of or can refer to cultivars of any one of the following species: Cucurbita pepo, Cucurbita mixta, Cucurbita maxima, and Cucurbita moschata.

Being a good American Farm Girl I grew up with pumpkin pie at all the holidays and maybe a loaf of pumpkin bread - very sweet- and maybe some pumpkin cookies.
I was very fortunate to travel in Australia in 1970 and had my first taste as pumpkin as a vegetable. Then I shared my pumpkin pie with them when I fixed them an American Thanksgiving Dinner.

This is a recipe from one of the cookbooks I brought back for pumpkin.

Pumpkin (Baked)
Pumpkin water
butter salt and pepper
Peal and seed the pumpkin and cut into convenient sizes. Place in a dish, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and add just a little water. Cover and bake in a moderate oven until soft. Add a little butter and serve.

Now my experience was that the pumpkin was often put in with potatoes, carrots, and a mutton roast and all cooked together. That was a favorite of mine.

Pumpkin Pie
(Two 9-inch deep dish pies)

4 eggs, beaten 2 tsp. ginger
1 can (1 lb. 13oz) 1 1/4 tsp. nutmeg
DelMonte Pumpkin 1 cup milk
1 cup granulated sugar 1 2/3 cup (13oz can)
1/2 cup brown sugar evaporated milk
firmly packed 2 9-inch pastry shells
1/2 tsp salt unbaked
2 1/2 tsp cinnamon

Combine eggs and pumpkin. Blend in sugars, salt and spices. Add milk; mix well. Divide and pour into 2 pastry shells. Bake at 400 degrees F. 50 minutes or until knife inserted halfway between center and outer edge comes out clean. Cool. (Well we like to serve it slightly warm with light whipped topping)

Distribution and Habitation
Pumpkins are grown all around the world for a variety of reasons ranging from agricultural purposes (such as animal feed) to commercial and ornamental sales.[10] Out of the seven continents, only Antarctica is unable to produce pumpkins; the biggest international producers of pumpkins include the United States, Mexico, India, and China.

The pumpkin capital of the world is Morton, Illinois. The traditional American pumpkin is the Connecticut Field variety.

Although native to the Western hemisphere, pumpkins are cultivated in North America, continental Europe, Australia, New Zealand, India, and some other countries. The pumpkin is the state fruit of New Hampshire.

Ecology

Cultivation in the US. Pumpkin cultivation
As one of the most popular crops in the United States, 1.5 billion pounds (680,388,555 kilograms) of pumpkins are produced each year. The top pumpkin-producing states in the U.S. include Illinois, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and California. Pumpkins are a warm-weather crop that is usually planted in early July. The specific conditions necessary for growing pumpkins require that soil temperatures three inches (7.62 centimeters) deep are at least 60 degrees Fahrenheit and soil that holds water well. Pumpkin crops may suffer if there is a lack of water or because of cold temperatures (in this case, below 65 degrees; frost can be detrimental), and sandy soil or soil with poor water filtration. Pumpkins are, however, rather hardy, and even if many leaves and portions of the vine are removed or damaged, the plant can very quickly re-grow secondary vines to replace what was removed.[17]

Pumpkins produce both a male and female flower; honeybees play a significant role in fertilization. Pumpkins have historically been pollinated by the native squash bee Peponapis pruinosa, but this bee has declined, probably due to pesticide sensitivity, and today most commercial plantings are pollinated by honeybees. One hive per acre (4,000 m² per hive) is recommended by the United States of America (US) Department of Agriculture. If there are inadequate bees for pollination, gardeners often have to hand pollinate. Inadequately pollinated pumpkins usually start growing but abort before full development. An opportunistic fungus is also sometimes blamed for abortions.

These facts provided by Wikipedia
Photo from Wikipedia - Male Flower

Nutritional Values of the Lowly Pumpkin

Cooking Pumpkin, raw
Nutritional value per 100 g (3.5 oz)
Energy 10 kcal 60 kJ
Carbohydrates 6.5 g
- Sugars 1.36 g
- Dietary fiber 0.5 g
Fat 0.1 g
- saturated 0.05 g
- monounsaturated 0.01 g
- polyunsaturated 0.01 g
Protein 1.0 g
Vitamin A equiv. 369 %u03BCg 41%
- %u03B2-carotene 3100 %u03BCg 29%
Thiamin (Vit. B1) 0.05 mg 4%
Riboflavin (Vit. B2) 0.110 mg 7%
Niacin (Vit. B3) 0.6 mg 4%
Pantothenic acid (B5) 0.298 mg 6%
Vitamin B6 0.061 mg 5%
Folate (Vit. B9) 16 %u03BCg 4%
Vitamin C 9 mg 15%
Vitamin E 1.06 mg 7%
Calcium 21 mg 2%
Iron 0.8 mg 6%
Magnesium 12 mg 3%
Phosphorus 44 mg 6%
Potassium 340 mg 7%
Sodium 1 mg 0%
Zinc 0.32 mg 3%

Percentages are relative to US
recommendations for adults.
Source: USDA Nutrient database

Information provided by Wikipedia

Giant Pumpkins
The largest pumpkins are Cucurbita maxima. They were cultivated from the hubbard squash genotype, crossed with kabocha-pumpkin types by enthusiast farmers through intermittent effort since the early 1800s. As such germplasm is commercially provocative, a U.S. legal right was granted for the rounder phenotypes, levying them as constituting a variety, with the appellation Atlantic Giant. Eventually this phenotype graduated back into the public domain, except now it had the name Atlantic Giant on its record (see USDA PVP # 8500204).

Weigh-off competitions for giant pumpkins are a popular festival activity. 460 pounds (208.65 kilograms) held the world record for the largest pumpkin until 1981 when Howard Dill (of Nova Scotia) broke the record with a pumpkin near 500 pounds (26.79 kilograms). Dill patented the seeds used to grow this giant pumpkin, deeming them Dill's Atlantic Giant seeds, and drawing growers from around the world. Dill is accredited for all of the giant pumpkins today, most of which are borne from crossing and re-crossing his patented seed with other varieties. By 1994, the Giant Pumpkin crossed the 1,000-pound (453.59-kilogram) mark. In September 2007, Joe Jutras (of Rhode Island) obtained the title of world's largest pumpkin with a cream-colored, 1,689-pound (766.12-kilogram) fruit. He is currently said to be working on producing a giant orange pumpkin, as orange pumpkins tend to be smaller and have thinner shells but are more desirable in appearance.

These facts are supplied by Wikipedia
Photo by Wikipedia