It’s pumpkin time…

It's pumpkin time again!

The Autumn colours herald the arrival in supermarkets and farm shops of one of my favourite vegetables – the pumpkin.

They are fairly easy to grow in the garden, with varieties such as Jack of All Trades and Hundredweight being popular for those growing for a halloween lantern.  They must be a fairly recent introduction to Tesco’s though, as children up in Yorkshire we never had a pumpkin to carve, instead we had a turnip or a swede, out of which we always made a lantern.

It was no easy task – the flesh of a swede or turnip is like set concrete compared to the playdough texture of pumpkin, and I must admit I wince now when I think of all those small fingers with sharp knives, digging away at rock hard vegetable.  How we all achieved adolescence with a full digit quota is a miracle and one which I’m sure my own children would never have managed.

Why we actually made lanterns out of turnips doesn’t seem at all clear to me now though. I do remember dressing up as a ghost (or a witch, depending on who got to the sheet first) and going and knocking on doors, but the full impact of the North American “trick or treat” celebration had yet to hit home.

Go beyond the usual snarly face..

Whilst we were happy to visit a few houses along the road from us, nowadays many parents from rural communities drop their children off in a neighbouring village to go trick or treating with friends. Of course this is a much safer alternative to wandering along narrow country lanes in the dark, but I wonder how many do it in order to increase the swag potential. Certainly in our village it’s not uncommon to see kids from other (shall we say less affluent) areas, marching around from door to door demanding sweets with menace and carrying off their loot in a pillowcase at the end of the night!

I was brought up to speed on the etiquette of “trick or treating” when I moved to the village 5 years ago.  Having lived previously in Scotland – where “guising” (as it is known, from the disguise worn) has been a tradition for many generations, I thought that any house was fair game.  Apparently though now, a lighted pumpkin on your doorstep signals “open for business”, whereas no pumpkin or one which is not lit means “grumpy – stay away”.

Any theme will do !

So I will be carving my pumpkin next weekend or during half term – with the milder climate this year it will pay to not do it too early unless you want a soggy decaying mess on your doorstep.

I have pledged to get creative this year – spurred on by talk of a pumpkin competition between the neighbours,  even though the last one saw a disqualification by the use of  and have found that Youtube is  a great resource if you want to do something a little more adventurous than the snarly face. There are some amazing creations around so do a bit of research first, get inspired and then get carving!

Don’t throw away the flesh though, pumpkin soup, pumpkin pie and pumpkin muffins are all delicious – well they are when you’ve been used to the turnip equivalent for years!