2009_0808TheVyne0038 uc
Seeing as it is Halloween I thought that I would post this picture of pumpkins growing in the walled garden at The Vyne, near Basingstoke.
Pumpkins are a gourd-like squash of the genus Cucurbita and the family Cucurbitaceae.
The word pumpkin originates from the word pepon, which is Greek for “large melon". The French adapted this word to pompon, which the British changed to pumpion and later American colonists changed that to the word we use today, “pumpkin". The origin of pumpkins is not definitively known, although they are thought to have originated in North America. The oldest evidence, pumpkin-related seeds dating between 7000 and 5500 B.C., were found in Mexico. Pumpkins range in size from less than 1 pound (0.45 kilograms) to over 1,000 pounds (453.59 kilograms).
Pumpkins are monoecious, having both male and female flowers on the same plant. The female flower is distinguished by the small ovary at the base of the petals. These bright and colorful flowers have extremely short life spans and may only open for as short a time as one day. The color of pumpkins is derived from the orange pigments abundant in them. The main nutrients are lutein and both alpha and beta carotene, the latter of which generates vitamin A in the body.
2009_0808TheVyne0038 uc
Seeing as it is Halloween I thought that I would post this picture of pumpkins growing in the walled garden at The Vyne, near Basingstoke.
Pumpkins are a gourd-like squash of the genus Cucurbita and the family Cucurbitaceae.
The word pumpkin originates from the word pepon, which is Greek for “large melon". The French adapted this word to pompon, which the British changed to pumpion and later American colonists changed that to the word we use today, “pumpkin". The origin of pumpkins is not definitively known, although they are thought to have originated in North America. The oldest evidence, pumpkin-related seeds dating between 7000 and 5500 B.C., were found in Mexico. Pumpkins range in size from less than 1 pound (0.45 kilograms) to over 1,000 pounds (453.59 kilograms).
Pumpkins are monoecious, having both male and female flowers on the same plant. The female flower is distinguished by the small ovary at the base of the petals. These bright and colorful flowers have extremely short life spans and may only open for as short a time as one day. The color of pumpkins is derived from the orange pigments abundant in them. The main nutrients are lutein and both alpha and beta carotene, the latter of which generates vitamin A in the body.