As part of the season, we’re seeing pumpkins appear in grocery stores all over the country. Some interesting things you may not know about this prolific gourd:
• Pumpkins are commonly thought of as a vegetable, but botanically, pumpkins are fruit.
• There are more than 2,500 farms in Canada with pumpkin patches, according to Statistics Canada. Collectively, they produce 80 thousand metric tonnes of pumpkins, with about two-thirds sold fresh to customers.
• Pumpkins are grown in every continent except Antarctica!
• According to Guinness, the World Record for the heaviest pumpkin as of Oct 2021 was grown in Italy, weighing in at 1226 KG (2708.8 lbs)
• In 2021, a 2,006.5-lb pumpkin was grown in Ormstown, Quebec, setting a Canadian record.
• The tradition of carving a gourd began in Ireland with the legend of Stingy Jack. The use of pumpkins as Jack-o’-lanterns didn’t begin until the 1800s in North America.
• Fastest time to carve one tonne of pumpkins: 3 hours, 33 minutes & 49 seconds (October 29,2008)
• Most lit Jack-o’-lanterns displayed: 30,581 (2013, City of Keene, New Hampshire)
• The Largest Pumpkin Pie: weighed 2,020-lbs and measured 12 feet, 1 inch long (October 8, 2005)
To see record-setting pumpkins from around the globe, click here.
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