From Pumpkin to Jack-o'-lantern
By Marjory E. Leposky
How does a pumpkin turn into a jack-o'-lantern? It all starts in the spring after the last frost, when the ground is warm – but don’t plant them too early. Otherwise, they may ripen and rot before Halloween.
Growing pumpkins begins with plowing the ground. First the growers plow the ground. If they planted a cover crop in the fall to protect and enrich the soil, they turn it over in the spring before planting.
Two different ways exist to plant pumpkins on a large commercial farm. Both involve a tractor that pulls a drilling machine. In direct seeding, people sit on the drilling machine. At regular intervals, they drop seeds into holes drilled into the soil to a specific depth. Transplanting involves growing seeds in a protected place and then dropping the young seedlings into the prepared holes.
Either way, the layout of the field depends on whether the crop will be irrigated; whether it will be weeded by hand, with a plow, or with chemicals; the height of the mature plant; proper sun direction and coverage; the soil type; whether the rows will be covered in plastic; and how any fertilizer might be applied. All of this is carefully planned before any planting takes place.
In a small plot or back yard garden, a person might use a hoe or shovel to make the holes about four feet apart.
Typically, two seeds are planted in each hole to improve the odds that at least one will grow. As the plants sprout and develop leaves, growers typically remove the weaker ones, giving the stronger ones a better chance to grow and produce fruit.
Pumpkin blooms need bees for pollination, so the growers always have beehives in their pumpkin fields.
Vines come up, and pumpkins grow on the vines. The pumpkins sit on the ground, unless the growers spread straw on the fields to prevent them from rotting.
In September, the growers harvest by hand. They walk through the fields and find ripe, damage-free pumpkins with the correct shape. They cut the stems one day, allow them to dry, and pick them up the next day.
The workers line up these pumpkins along the drive rows (the paths in the fields where the tractor will travel). Then they drive through the fields with the tractor, pulling a flat-bed trailer full of large cardboard bins. (They don’t harvest pumpkins in rainy weather because the rain causes the bins to get wet and fall apart.)
They pick the best pumpkins, with the best stems. Some may weigh 25 pounds or more. Workers on the ground toss pumpkins up to workers on the trailer, who fill the bins with 40 or more pumpkins per bin.
Once the bins are full, the workers take the pumpkins to the grower’s warehouse. The same day or the next, other workers driving forklifts load the bins into tractor-trailers to go to wholesalers, who distribute them by truck to individual retail stores.
When the pumpkins arrive at the grocery store, they are unloaded and arranged at the front of the store to attract customers.
To choose the right pumpkin, look for one with a flat surface without bumps so you can cut into it. Very carefully load the pumpkin into the car. Wrap a seatbelt around it like a small child to transport it home. Bring the pumpkin into the house and put it at the center of the dining room table to await the arrival of Halloween.
Carve the pumpkin on Halloween Day. Clean off the dining room table and lay down newspaper. Set out a large bowl, a large metal spoon, and a large cutting knife.
Before you start cutting, decide what you will do with the pumpkin after Halloween. If you plan to eat it, or to recycle it at a wildlife center that will feed it to raccoons and opossums, don’t draw on it with a pen, pencil, marker, or anything else. Free-cut it – and be careful. You don’t get a redo.
First, cut inward at an angle around the top of the pumpkin, holding onto the stem. Then pull the stem and the top upward to make the lid. Using the spoon, scoop the pumpkin flesh and seeds into the bowl. Then dig into the pumpkin to remove all of the flesh and seeds.
Now inspect the pumpkin and decide where to cut into its body to make the eyes, nose, and mouth. Cut inward at an angle, and put the pieces you’ve removed into the bowl.
Now you have your jack-o'-lantern. As the sun goes down, use a non-drip wax candle that you can reuse the next year. The wax is not good for the raccoons and opossums.
An average-sized pumpkin contains a cup of seeds. Pumpkin seeds can be eaten, dried, or roasted. Many people like them – and so do birds and squirrels.
The first Halloween I carved my own jack-o'-lantern, we had a second full moon of the month – a relatively uncommon event called a “blue” moon.
The next day we carefully loaded the jack-o'-lantern into the car with a seatbelt again. At the wildlife center, our jack-o'-lantern joined a table full of others waiting to be animal food.
Marjory E. Leposky is a filmmaker and children's chapter book author with more than 10 years of production experience on a broad spectrum of projects that include TV commercials, music videos for local artists, and feature film productions. She has served as the following: casting director, casting associate, producer, production coordinator, scriptwriter, unit production manager and production assistant for films, TV commercials, corporate videos, and music videos in South Florida and Los Angeles. Marjory earned degrees in television and media production from Miami Dade College, formally Miami-Dade Community College, and Florida State University. You can follow her on Twitter @chatterboxpro
Photos are from Marjory Leposky & Karla Taylor.
The author would like to thank the following for their help:
Kellie Worrell, Food Safety Officer from Bottomley Evergreens & Farms, Inc., Sparta, NC.
Jim and Shirlyn Edwards from Edwards Farms, Burnsville, NC.
Freda A. Butner, RDN LDN, Nutrition Marketing Specialist from North Carolina Department of Agriculture & Consumer Services, Raleigh, NC.