Just five days before Halloween, on the 26th of October there is a holiday dedicated to the celebration of one of the most iconic images of Halloween, the pumpkin.
National Pumpkin Day couldn’t exist without the suppliers of the fruit and the time for harvest is vital for businesses.
Rob Barker from Yorkshire Pumpkins, based in North Yorkshire said: “In terms of the time of year it’s now or never really, they (pumpkins) are not worth a lot on the first of November.”
His farm grows and sells the fruit in North Yorkshire with a “Pick Your Own Pumpkin” event.
Emily from Foxes Farm Produce based in Exeter said that a good harvest is “massive” for them because they supply “over one hundred businesses.”
She said: “We only do pumpkins. That’s what we do all year round we need a good harvest so we can make sure we have enough money to survive the whole year.”
The pumpkin is famous for its relationship with the USA and that’s no accident according to cook and food historian Monica Askay.
She said: “In historical terms, they came from the new world, America.”
“They are linked with thanksgiving when the Americans give thanks for the first successful harvest of the mayflower settlers.”
She explained that in the UK we haven’t always had a national pumpkin day: “The use of pumpkins and lanterns is imported from the states, we used to use things like mangelwurzel, and swedes hollowed out.”
To celebrate the date, she was attending a half-term pumpkin party in a shopping centre.
She said: “I’m doing cookery demos and taste-testing pumpkin things”
She thought that it was “a shame” that the pumpkin is seen as a novelty item, because “winter squash are really quite tasty and you can do lots of things with them”.
You must be logged in to post a comment.